Journey to Dwarf Mountain
by Gokartgirl
Summary: Auradon Prep has let its students loose for fall break. But Evie, Mal, Carlos, and Jay won't be spending their break at school like they did over the summer. No, they're going home with Doug and Daisy to Dwarf Mountain. How will the seven dwarves and their families handle four Isle kids in their village for a week? And what adventures will the group of friends have while there?
1. Chapter 1

Fall break had finally arrived. Evie was so happy to have a week off from her classes. She was also excited about the trip she and her friends were going on for the week. Daisy and Doug had arranged for Evie, Mal, Carlos, and Jay to spend the break at their house. Fairy Godmother had agreed to the vacation.

Evie had all her make up in one suitcase and nearly all her clothes in another. Mal had made many snide comments about Evie's two suitcase compared to her single duffle bag.

"I'm just bringing the necessities." Evie tried to reason.

"E, we're gonna be up in the mountains. You're not gonna need that much make up or your high fashion designs. Daisy even told you to bring functional clothes." Mal countered with an annoyed huff.

"I'm bringing clothes for every possible situation." Evie defended. Mal thought she heard a hint of panic in her sister's voice. Or maybe it was desperation. Either way, something wasn't right.

"Evie, what's wrong?" Mal cut to the chase.

"You seem to think that I'm being unreasonable with my packing. That's what's wrong." Evie waved her hand around like she was trying to smack away the subject.

"Evie." Mal said in a firm voice that made Evie finally look at her. Mal had a knowing look in her eye.

Evie frowned and sank onto the floor, leaning back against her bed. "What if they hate me?" She asked shakily.

Mal gave her friend a sympathetic look. "Who?" she asked even though she knew the answer.

"Doug's family. I mean he didn't tell them about me. I might understand if he didn't give them all the details about me, but he didn't even tell them he had a girlfriend. Is he ashamed of me? Does he not want them to know about me? What are they going to say when I show up on their doorstep?" Evie was having a mental break down.

"Evie Royal! You know damn well that Doug loves you and is not ashamed of you!" Mal scolded her for even thinking that. "I'm sure Doug has a good reason for not telling his family about you. I mean, think about all the stuff we hid from our parents."

"That's different, Mal." Evie pulled her knees to her chest.

"How? The parents here can be just as strict as ours were." The purple haired girl sat down beside the bluenette. "Maybe he's not allowed to have a girlfriend or maybe he wanted to see how well things went before he told his parents. Maybe the thought of telling them about you just slipped his mind. You know how forgetful his is. He couldn't think of one of his uncles' name, for Pete's sake." Evie laughed at the last part.

"I just... I just want them to like me. I love Doug, and I don't want this to screw things up between us." Evie clung to her ruby heart necklace. It wasn't the same necklace she had on the Island. This was a real ruby from the mines that Doug had given her the first day back to school.

"It won't." Mal gave her an assuring smile.

A knock at the door made the girls get up from their spot on the floor. Mal went to open the door as Evie dried her misty eyes. Daisy was at the door, grinning from ear to ear.

"Are you ready?" the dwarf asked eagerly.

"Yes. Are the boys downstairs?" Evie grabbed her suitcases and walked out the door as if nothing had happened.

"Um... Yeah. The car is here too." Daisy informed them as she fell into step behind Evie and her two suitcases. Daisy gave Mal a questioning look. Mal rolled her eyes and shook her head, silently telling Daisy she tried. Daisy suppressed a giggle.

The girls came out of the building to find Doug talking to the driver, Carlos giving Dude one last run before the long car ride, and Jay loading their bags into the yellow SUV. Jay noticed the girls walking up. Evie and Mal dropped their luggage at Jay's feet and gave the boy mischievous grins. Jay rolled his eyes at his sisters before they took off to play with Dude. He caught Daisy taking off her backpack out of the corner of his eye.

"Here. I got that." The boy held out his hand to take her bag.

"I've got it." Daisy insisted. "Besides, you're gonna need your strength for Evie's suitcases." she joked in a hushed tone. Jay chuckled.

Daisy helped Jay organize the bags while the others started coming back to the car.

"Shotgun!" Mal called before Carlos could get to the door.

"No! Not fair! I need to be up front so Dude can hang his head out the window." Carlos pleaded.

"Too bad. To the back." Mal slid into the passenger's seat.

Evie and Doug sat next you each other in the second row. Carlos climbed in to the back row with a small pout.

"Got all the luggage in the car, Jay?" Doug asked from his seat.

A sudden scream caused Doug to jump and spin to look out the back of the vehicle.

"Yep. I got everything." Jay appeared at the side door. A mischievous smile painted on his face and a petite body thrown over his shoulder.

"Jay, this is not funny. Please put me down." Daisy begged, but a giggle in her voice betrayed her words.

"I don't know. I thinks it's kinda fun." Jay played, bouncing the girl on her shoulder to get a better grip on her legs so he didn't drop her. Daisy, however, took the shift as he was dropping her. She screamed and wrapped her small arms around the boy's midsection.

"Jay!" Daisy warned with laughter laced words.

"Set her down, Jay. We need to get going." Mal said firmly.

Jay nodded and crouched down so Daisy's feet were on the ground. She pushed off of his back to stand up. When Jay returned to his full height, Daisy stuck her tongue out at the boy. Jay stuck his tongue out in return. The four teens already in the car laughed at the childish scene.

Jay climbed into the back row with Carlos and Dude. Daisy sat between the boys and set Dude in her lap.

The driver got behind the wheel and started the car. As they pulled away from the school and began the 5 hour drive to Dwarf Mountain, the energy around the teens was a mix of excitement and anxiousness. This week was going to be one they'd never forget. The group just hoped it was for a good reason.

 **A/N and the journey to Dwarf Mountain begins :) I've had this chapter written for a long time. I didn't want to post it because I wanted to have more stories to develop the way I see these characters under my belt before I took on this project. I'm predicting this story to be longer than First Day Jitters. I can't promise that the chapters for this will be up in as timely a manner as the chapters for my other stories because my fall break officially ends at midnight tonight, which means back to school, homework, and after school theatre rehearsals. I'll try not to totally disappear but updates will most likely be spread out. Sorry :( stick with me though because I really think you're gonna like this story and the verity of events I'm going to have play out through it :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Evie stared out the window at the passing countryside. She tugged at her seat belt as she absentmindedly tried to fix her outfit.

Doug smiled sympathetically at his girlfriend. He reached over at placed his hand gently on hers to stop her fidgeting. The girl snapped out of her thoughts and turned her attention to the boy. Evie smiled sheepishly.

"Don't worry, Evie. Everything is going to be fine. They're going to love you." Doug assured her.

"I can't help it." She admitted.

"It's alright to be nervous. It just means you care about what they think, but I'm telling you that they'll think you're great." The dwarf smiled at her.

"I heard that when you're nervous, you're supposed to imagine the people in their underwear." Carlos joked. Daisy and Jay snickered.

Doug rolled his eyes at the trio in the back, and Evie breathed a laugh.

"That's for stage fright, Carlos." Mal laughed.

"Oh yeah. Well nerves are nerves." Carlos shrugged.

"That's not true, Carlos. They both have antibodies and stuff, but meeting-my-boyfriend's-parents nerves are more protein based stuff than everyone's-looking-at-me nerves." Jay explained mockingly.

Mal and Carlos laughed while Daisy and Doug looked at each other, confused.

"Ha ha ha. You're hilarious, Jay." Evie smirked at her brother.

"I try." Jay smiled cheekily. He leaned up to put a hand on Evie's shoulder. "But seriously, you don't have to nervous. We're all here with you."

Everyone agreed. Evie started to relax. Doug held her hand to keep her calm and restrain her from fidgeting again.

"We're here!" Daisy gasped, causing the others to jump. "I mean, we're not there yet, but we're close! Look! Jewel Town!"

Sure enough, a small town came into view. Jewel Town was the town that rested at the base of Dwarf Mountain. The dwarves and their families went there for everything, from basic shopping to the occasional sweet treat. Carlos, Mal, and Evie scanned the rustic looking storefronts as they passed.

"Think mom and dad will take us to the Ice Cream Parlor when we get settled?" Daisy asked Doug.

"I don't know. They might if we bug them enough." Doug answered. Daisy got a mischievous glint in her eye. The siblings fist bumped. Jay raised an eyebrow at Daisy to which she gave an oh so innocent grin.

Doug started telling stories about all the stores in town and memories he and Daisy had at each place. Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay listened intently, trying to imagine the scenes as best they could.

The car drove up a winding road up the mountain. The road had a rock wall on one side and a cliff on the other. Unfortunately for Mal, Evie, and Carlos, they were looking straight the cliff. The hair raised on the back of Carlos's neck.

"That's a long way down." he whimpered.

Daisy lifted Dude up from his spot on the floor for the dog to lick Carlos's face. "Take it from someone who has ridden on this road with Sneezy driving, you are perfectly safe." The younger dwarf giggled as the older groaned.

"Don't remind me. That was the most terrifying day of my life." Doug shuddered.

"More terrifying than meeting my mother?" Mal asked as a joke.

"Yes!" He answered, making the others crack up.

"We have arrived." the driver spoke as the taxi stopped in front of one of seven beautiful cottages scattered around the end of the road.

The teens climbed out and grabbed their luggage out of the back of the car. Doug paid the driver as Daisy lead the others to the house.

Evie was last in the line to the door, aside from Doug. She was using all her strength to make her legs move. Every possible worse case scenario played through her mind with each step.

"Mom! Dad! We're home!" Daisy called when she opened the door.

Directly inside was the living room with a big comfy-looking sectional in the middle. There was a fire place on the inner wall. The walkway to the kitchen was beside the fire place, and stairs to the second floor were to the right of the front door. The cabin was cozy and welcoming, except for the silence.

"They might be outside. Just set your stuff on the couch. We'll figure out who's sleeping in what room later." Daisy told them.

The Core Four carefully put their bags on the sectional. Carlos held Dude so the dog didn't climb on anything. Evie and Mal glanced at some of the picture frames around the room. Jay followed Daisy out to the back yard.

An older man was setting up chairs and tables while a woman was hanging decorations from lights that were strung from the house through the trees. Daisy whistled to get their attention. The man looked up and smiled widely at the girl.

"Daisy!" the woman squealed and ran over to Daisy and Jay. "Welcome home, sweetheart!" she hugged the smaller teen tightly.

"Mom... Can't... Breathe..."

"Sorry." the woman apologized and released her daughter.

"It's okay. I missed you too. Hi, Dad!" Daisy hugged her father and he kissed her forehead.

"Where's your brother?" her mom asked.

"He's inside with the others. This is Jay by the way." Daisy stepped back to stand beside Jay, who had been standing there awkwardly with his hands in his pockets.

"It's nice to meet you, Jay. I'm Abigail, and this is my husband Dopey." Daisy's mother smiled kindly at the boy.

"It's nice to meet you. Thank you for having us here." Jay shook Dopey's hand, whose grip was stronger than the teen anticipated.

"Well we wanted to meet Daisy and Doug's friends so what better way than invite them over." Abigail giggled lightly.

Dopey gesture for them to go inside. Daisy lead the way back to the living room where Doug was showing Evie the large picture of all the seven dwarves and their families, probably telling her who's who.

"Doug!" Abigail squealed again, causing the couple, plus Mal and Carlos on the sectional, to jump.

"Hi, mom." Doug greeted. They hugged briefly.

"So these are your friends?" the woman asked.

"Yeah. That's Mal. The boy is Carlos. The dog is Dude. And this..." Evie stiffened as Doug gestured to her. "is Evie." Doug slid his hand into hers. "She's my girlfriend."

The teens in the room held their breath as soon as they heard the words leave Doug's mouth. Daisy's eyes widen at how bluntly he had told their parents. Dopey was taken back by the sudden statement as well.

However, he recovered after a split second and looked to Abigail. She seemed to be frozen solid. The man waved his hand in front of his wife's face. He rolled his eyes and held up his index finger, telling the kids to give him a moment.

"Cover your ears." Daisy and Doug quickly said unison.

Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Mal did as they were told. Just as their hands got to their ears, Dopey whistled sharply and loudly, snapping Abigail out of her daze.

"G-girlfriend?" She finally spoke, still in shock.

Doug nodded.

Abigail was at a loss for words, which both shocked and scared Daisy. Her father didn't speak often, but her mother never shut up. If she wasn't talking, that was not a good sign.

 **A/N Doug, you need to warn people when you're gonna drop a big-news bomb on them. I wonder how Abigail is going to react to Evie when the shock wares off. What do you all think?**

 **Also guys could you give me some ideas for "cuss words" the kids can use. Not the normal cuss words we use but like "Jiminy Cricket" "poison apples" "Fairy dust" like Disney-fied cuss words lol I wanna add some in because I think they could be fun, plus what teenagers doesn't cuss at one point? I would love to hear what you all come up with :)**


	3. Chapter 3

The weight of the silence in the room was threatening to suffocate Evie. It wasn't just an awkward silence; it was deadly. The worse part was that only a minute had passed since Doug had uttered the word "girlfriend" but it felt like an hour.

Evie could tell her friends wanted to say something to break the tension, but they were too afraid of making the awkwardness worse. She prayed someone would say _something_.

"Douglas Granite Dwarfson," a soft velvet voice said slowly.

Doug flinched at the sound of his full name. Evie, who was so thankful for the answered prayer, and her siblings did a double-take at the owner of the voice.

"How long have you been dating Miss Evie?" Dopey spoke slowly, as if to make sure he was heard.

The boy hesitated, and Evie had to do math in her head. How long had they been dating? Officially. Maybe they became official on their date a couple weeks after Ben's coronation, which would have been early May. It was late September now.

"Five months." Doug answered.

Abigail's jaw dropped. When a small squeak was all that came out of her mouth, Dopey bit back a laugh. Why the man found the situation comical, even he didn't know.

"It is lovely to finally meet you, Evie. I apologize for my wife's lack of words, but you have to understand that Doug has never told us about any girl he's been interested in, let alone brought her home." Dopey grinned cheekily.

A wide smile appeared on Abigail's face as she wrapped her arms around Evie. The teens simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. Evie shakily returned the woman's hug, tears forming in her eyes.

Daisy leaned on the nearest solid object. Her legs weaken when they relaxed from their stiffened state.

"Poison apples, mother! Give _everyone_ an anxiety attack!" Daisy cursed under her breath.

Dopey turned to his daughter and narrowed his eyes in scolding for cursing. Daisy bit her lip for letting the words slip in front of her parents. Her father raised at eyebrow at her and crossed his arms, glancing between the girl and something else.

Daisy gave her dad a confused expression. Jay cleared his throat. Daisy sprang up and blushed vibrantly. She had been resting her head on Jay's arm, not the doorway to the kitchen.

Abigail pulled away from Evie to hold her at arm's length. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to frighten you. It's an honor to meet you." The woman was absolutely giddy. "Oh my goodness, you're so beautiful. How did a girl like you end up with Doug?"

The statement sounded rude when it was supposed to be teasing, which Abigail didn't realize.

Dopey and Daisy both slapped a hand over their mouths to keep from laughing. Evie froze again, unsure how to react. The hit to his pride knocked the breath out of Doug.

"Thanks, mom." he responded.

"You're welcome, sweetie." Abigail said obliviously.

Carlos snorted, and Mal smiled. Even Evie snickered this time. Daisy couldn't contain herself and fell, literally, into a giggle fit. Jay's shoulders shook as he laughed silently. Dopey's hand went from over his mouth to over his eyes. This was not the first impression he had in mind.

The man put his hands on his wife's shoulders and pulled her quietly from the room.

"Huh? Honey, what are you doing? Did I say something wrong?" Abigail asked, confused.

When the back door clicked closed, no one moved. The awkward silence returned, but the tension didn't. The teens just looked at each other.

"So those are our parents." Doug pinched the bridge of his nose.

The others finally let out a healthy laugh.

"That was terrifying." Evie admitted as she put her hand over her rapidly beating heart.

"Doug, if you ever have to tell them big news like that again, ease them into it." Daisy suggested from her spot on the floor.

"Noted." He said flatly.

The back door shot open, causing all the teens to jump again. Abigail ran back into the room and bear hugged Doug.

"I'm so sorry, sweet boy. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm so sorry. I'm such a terrible mother. Please forgive me." The woman cried.

"You're fine, mom. I know you didn't mean anything bad." Doug insisted.

Abigail released her son and wiped away her tears. "We were setting up for the welcome home party we all decided to have for you and your cousins. Your uncles and aunts went to pick up the others. They won't be back for a while, and everything is ready for the party. How about to make up for my craziness and the traumatizing first impression Dopey and I take you kids to town for ice cream? Does that sound acceptable?" she asked.

Daisy and Doug both perked up. Evie, Jay, Mal, and Carlos looked at each other for any objections. There were none.

"That sounds nice. Plus it'll give us a chance to properly introduce ourselves without any breaking news updates." Evie lightly elbowed Doug, who rubbed the back of his neck.

"Wonderful! I'll go up stairs to get my purse. Dopey," the woman turned to her husband who had sneaked in behind her. "could you take the kids to the car?"

Dopey nodded. He walked toward the door and motioned for the teens to follow him.

Daisy looked up at Jay and held up her arms. The boy smirked before pulling her to her feet. She smiled in thanks. The teens tailed after Dopey.

"Well, if I'm being honest, that was easier than I thought it was gonna be." Daisy mumbled to her friends.

"That's highly debatable." Evie retorted.

 **A/N so Abigail went into happy shock. The kids get to go to the Ice Cream Parlor, and Daisy didn't even have to bug her parents to death to do it. I think the other dwarves and their families will appear next chapter. I wonder what they'll think of the guests. I have some events that I want to definitely happen in this story, but it's not a week's worth of activities. If you guys have any suggestions of things that can happen, I'd love to hear them. I may use your ideas, I may not, or I may modify them. We'll see. It all depends on if I can fit it in with what I already have planned, but I love hearing ideas even if I don't use them because it gives me inspiration for future chapters or stories.**


	4. Chapter 4

The six teens basically bounced into the Ice Cream Parlor. Daisy had been describing all the different flavors and combinations the shop offered the whole way down the mountain to town. The entire group of eight were able to ride together because the seven dwarves all owned large vehicles so everyone could fit in one car.

Evie and Doug were deciding whether they wanted to split something or get their own treat. Mal scanned the menu. Jay surveyed the array of toppings. Carlos and Daisy had their faces pressed against the glass of the ice cream freezer.

"What can I get for you all?" an employee asked.

"Get whatever you want. It's on us." Abigail announced to the kids.

After a quick cheer and multiple "thank you"s, everyone started ordering. Mal ordered a double scoop strawberry cone. Evie got a small cup of blueberry ice cream. Carlos's pick was a large waffle bowl of chocolate. Daisy and Jay stepped up to order at the same time and the two started pushing each other to be first. Doug called out that he wanted a hot fudge sundae from behind them. Jay let Daisy win their little squabble. She ordered cookie 'n cream while he got mango and chocolate.

"This is really good!" Mal said after her first lick.

"I told you so. This place has the best ice cream in all of Auradon." Daisy smiled.

"I think Carlos agrees." Evie laughed, pointing to the De Vil boy who was almost done with his large amount of ice cream, most of which was on his face.

Carlos stopped inhaling his ice cream. His eyes were squinted shut. He put his hands on his head and groaned.

"Problem, bro?" Jay asked.

"My head really really hurts!" he gritted his teeth.

"Brain freeze." Doug snickered. "That's what happens when you eat ice cream too fast."

The teens giggled a bit at Carlos's expense.

"Put your thumb on the roof of your month. It helps." Daisy told him.

The boy eyed his friend suspiciously before doing as she said. After a minute, his eyes widen.

"I can't believe that worked." Carlos smiled.

"You don't have to eat so fast. It's not going anywhere, and we have plenty of time before we have to home for the party." Abigail assured them as she and Dopey sat down at the table with the teens.

"Force of habit." Carlos said, barely detectable sadness in his voice.

Dopey smiled at the boy. The man took a huge bite of his vanilla cone. He was left with a white ice cream mustache. The others gave him amused looks. He then looked off in the distance, thinking deeply, and started stroking his mustache. The kids started cracking up. Abigail rolled her eyes at her husband's silliness. The man turned to her and grinned widely. When he leaned in for a kiss, she pushed him away, causing him to pout. The teens laughed even more. Doug was red faced from embarrassment and laughter. Daisy was enjoying the show.

"So tell me about yourselves. Doug and Daisy honestly haven't told me that much about you all, other than you're amazing friends." Abigail inquired.

Jay, Evie, Mal, and Carlos exchanged questioning looks. What should they tell them? Everything? Just a bit? Who should tell them?

Evie grabbed Doug's hand under the table for support.

"Well we're all seventeen years old and juniors at Auradon Prep." Jay started. "I like parkour, and I play tourney. Coach says I'm one of the best players he's ever seen."

Dopey grinned. He seemed impressed. Abigail sat up a little in her chair.

"Parkour? That's running around and jumping over things, right?" The woman asked.

Jay humored her. "Yeah. That's a basic way of putting it."

"Daisy does that. She goes through the forest, and we won't see her for hours sometimes. Isn't that right, sweetie? You're a parkourer."

Jay winced at the 'term' while Daisy nearly facepalmed.

"I'm a freerunner, mom, not a traceur." The girl gently corrected.

Her mother brushed off the correction, but Jay smiled at Daisy for knowing the title.

"That explains why you're so fast in the woods." He whispered.

"Let's not talk about that day." Daisy cringed at the traumatic memory.

"What about the rest of you? What are you like to do?" Abigail pushed.

"I also play tourney, and I take care of Dude." Carlos offered. He reached under his chair to pet Dude's head.

"I'm a bit of an artist." Mal said.

"Um... I love fashion. I design and make my own clothes." Evie blushed.

Abigail smiled. She opened her mouth to ask another question but was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She stepped away to take the call.

The rest of the group finished their ice cream and started cleaning up the table. When Abigail returned, everyone was ready to go.

"That was Doc. He said they are on their way back from picking up the kids. They should be back home in about thirty minutes." The woman informed them.

Dopey nodded and stood. The teens got up as well and followed the adults to the car.

"I hope your ready to meet the rest of the dwarves." Abigail said over her shoulder.

 **A/N the rest of dwarves and their families appear next chapter. This is where things may get interesting. Nothing much happening in this chapter. Just some silly stuff. I don't really like it but then again I never like anything I write :P I feel like I'm not doing enough but whatever. I hope you enjoy it. :)**

 **For those who actually know about parkour and freerunning (and even those who don't know) in my head, parkour is about over coming obstacles. It's practical. I see Jay as doing purely parkour because he was a thief so he needed to get to difficult to reach places with ease and to get away from any pursuers he may have had. Freerunning, to me, is having fun and being part of your environment. This is what Daisy does because to her the forest is her playground, a place for her to explore and be free. Parkour is urban based. Freerunning can be urban or rural. Jay was raised in an urban world that he needed to maneuver through quickly and easily. Daisy was born to be a part of nature and have fun and let loss with no restriction. To me they're opposites but they're also very similar.**

 **ALSO! This is unrelated to the story but I wanted to say it because I don't know how many people actually know about this or not. DESCENDANTS 2 CONFIRMED! AND A SECOND ISLE OF THE LOST BOOK IS COMING OUT IN MAY! I'm excited. Can't you tell? Ok I'm good now. I just wanted to tell people in case they didn't know. Later, lovelies!**


	5. Chapter 5

When the group got back to Dwarf Mountain, there wasn't anyone else there yet. The teens climbed out of the car, and Abigail led them inside the house. The woman stopped just inside the door, noticing the luggage in the living room.

"Oh that's right!" she gasped and turned to her guests. "I haven't showed you your rooms yet. I'm so sorry. Grab your things and follow me."

Evie hesitated to grab her suitcases when the others had duffle bags. Dopey walked up behind her and took one of the suitcases. He gave the girl a smile and a wink. Evie smiled graciously.

Abigail led everyone up stairs. At the top of the stairs was a hallway with two doors on each side and one at the end.

"Pretty simple layout. The bathroom is that door at the end of the hallway. There is also a half bath down stairs that I'll show you to in after you get settled. Doug's room is on the left; Daisy's, the right. Girls will be in Daisy's room; boys, in Doug's. Mine and Dopey's room is this first door on the right."

"What's the last room?" Carlos asked curiously.

"A black hole that sucks up anything and anyone that enters, never to be seen again." Daisy spooked the boy.

Carlos jumped behind Jay with a yelp. Mal smirked, catching on to the joke. Evie gave Doug a questioning glance to be sure.

"It's a storage closet." Doug clarified.

Carlos glared slightly at Daisy. She snickered. The more comfortable the dwarf got around her friends; the more of her playful, mischievous side she let show.

"I have two rules in my house." Abigail's voice was firm with authority, calling the attention of the teens back to her. "Number one, low noise level after 10:30. Number two, and don't forget this, no boys in the girls' room and no girls in the boys' room."

The ice in the woman's narrowed eyes sent a chill down everyone's spine. Doug shrunk under the glare while Daisy slid slightly behind her father. Carlos held Dude closer to his chest. Jay straighten respectfully. Evie squirmed nervously. Mal hadn't seen a look like that since the last time she saw _her_ mother.

"Is that understood?" Abigail asked her guests.

They nodded stiffly.

A warm smile returned to Abigail's face. "Good. I'll be down stairs if you need me."

"I forgot how scary mom's scowls were." Doug gulped after Abigail left.

Daisy and Dopey nodded in agreement.

"That was definitely unnerving." Mal admitted, sounding impressed.

"So. Mal and I are sleeping in your room?" Evie asked Daisy.

"Yeah. Come on." Daisy walked down to her room and opened the door.

The girls stepped into the room. The ceiling was low right inside but raised the farther in you went. The walls were lavender with white trim. A futon and a small book shelf were against one wall, an acoustic guitar rested on the futon. A desk with a computer and a music system were against the other wall with a door, most likely Daisy's closet, between the desk and a large window. A bench was built into the windowsill. Finally a bird's nest hammock chair hung in the middle of the room from the ceiling.

"Wow. Nice set up." Mal complimented.

"Thanks. You can either sleep on the futon or the window bed. You two can decide." Daisy said while she picked up a few stray items.

"Wait. Then where are you going to sleep?" Evie asked, looking around the room confused. There were only two places to sleep that she could see.

"In my bed." Daisy giggled. When Mal and Evie turned to her, she pointed up.

The duo followed Daisy's finger to find that the low ceiling above the door was actually a loft bed.

"Huh. I probably wouldn't have noticed that." Evie half laughed.

"Sweet." Mal grinned. "Is your bed all that's up there?"

Daisy shrugged. "Well yes and no. The whole platform is a mattress so there's no other furniture. I have some stuffed animals and different things up there."

"May we see?" Evie smiled eagerly.

"Sure."

The dwarf started up the ladder and sat cross legged on her bed as Mal and Evie climbed.

Evie gasped at how different the loft was from the rest of the room. The walls were olive green and were illuminated by Christmas lights. Quotes had been painted on the walls as well in plum purple, like _When words fail, music speaks_ and _if_ _you wanna raise your voice, don't be scared to breathe_ and the lyrics to Hilary Duff's song _I Am_. Pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals littered the bed. It felt so safe and soothing compared to the carefree and uplifting energy of the rest of the room.

"Now this is amazing." the bluenette breathed in awe.

"Did you do these yourself?" Mal pointed the words.

"Yeah. I add new ones every once in a while. They're kinda like reminders for myself." Daisy crawled to one of the quotes. "This is the newest one."

The others girls read it carefully: _Never judge someone by the opinion of another._

They looked at the youngest girl questioningly.

"It's a quote a didn't really understand the first time I heard it. My dad said it to me when I was still a little kid. So many people think he's dumb, but he's really smart. Uncle Doc was telling the story about how they met Snow White..." She hesitated to tell the story.

"Go on." The not-so-evil princess urged with a reassuring smile.

Daisy nodded and continued. "Uncle Grumpy said something about how terrible the Evil Queen is, and all of us kids agreed with him. Dad spoke up and told us to never judge someone by the opinion of another. Everyone brushed it off, even the adults. Later I asked him what he meant. He told me: 'How can you judge someone you've never met?' When I said that I know from his and my uncles' stories, he shook his head. 'A person can change with time. Some people don't, but you don't know that until you know them.' "

Evie grinned at the wise words. She felt so much better about being here, knowing now that Dopey believed in learning what a person is really like before making conclusions about them.

"I remember that speech vividly, but I had a hard time carrying out that saying so I put it on the wall so I would learn it." Daisy looked down at her hands in her lap, an almost ashamed expression on her face. "I... I had to put it up after... A-after Ben announced his proclamation..."

A gentle hand took Daisy's. The girl glanced up to see compassion in Evie's eyes and solace in Mal's soft smile.

"I think that's something everyone needs to learn." Evie said sincerely.

"Yeah. It's almost fitting that something wise like that would come from a man named Dopey." Mal smirked.

The girls started laughing their heads off at the (kinda lame) joke.

"Daisy! Evie! Mal! The uncles have arrived! It's party time!" Doug announced from his room. His window had a view of the driveway while Daisy's looked over the backyard.

"We'll be down in a minute!" Daisy leaned over the edge of the loft and called out her door.

"Ready?" She turned to the two older girls.

Evie nodded with a wide smile, looking the most confident she has been all day.

 **A/N ok so I lied. The other six dwarves and families aren't in this chapter. I was planning to but the scene of seeing the rooms turned into something so much bigger and better than I originally had in mind. The loft bed with all the inspirational quotes and stuff wasn't a thing to begin with. That just happened. I got 2 of the 3 quotes from Google images, the last is lyrics from _What About Now_ by Bon Jovi. Look up _I Am_ by Hilary Duff. It's an amazing song and that's how I picture Daisy at times. I actually like this a LOT better than what was planned. By the time I was done it was as long as a full chapter so I'm letting it stand alone. Dwarves and families will DEFINITELY be in the next chapter, no way around it. Let's hope that they think the same way Dopey does.**


	6. Chapter 6

The girls walked out the back door. The back yard was now filled with people. The six other dwarves and their wives had picked up their children from their respective schools. Everyone was greeting each other, eating food, and laughing at stories.

Evie scanned the family. Doug's family. Doug's huge family. It seemed like fifty people were here. She counted the people, including her and her siblings, to see how many there really were.

Seven adult men.

Seven adult women.

Nine teenage boys.

Three teenage girls.

One dog.

Okay so only twenty-six people, but still that was a lot. Plus there were mainly boys. Wait.

"Daisy?" The bluenette double checked the crowd to be sure she wasn't overlooking anyone. "Tell me you're not the only girl."

The dwarf girl snickered. "I wish I could."

Mal's jaw dropped a bit. "Every one of the seven dwarves had a son?"

"Yep. They all had a son the first try, and with exception of my parents, they all stopped after that. I'm the only girl and the youngest." she said with false cheer. "But I can handle them. I'm tougher than I look."

Evie and Mal didn't say anything. They just nodded compliantly.

"I am tough!" Daisy reinforced by placing her hands on her hips and trying to stand tall.

The older girls giggled.

"Of course, you are, sweetheart." Evie cooed and hugged the freshman.

Daisy pushed away the hug with an eye roll and a smirk. The girls laughed again.

"Hey where's that bathroom your mom mentioned earlier?" Mal asked.

"Oh, I'll show you. Be right back, Evie." Daisy started for the house.

"Alright, I'm going to find Doug and the boys."

The party was pretty busy with people moving anywhere. A couple of the adults were running back and forward between a radio and speakers around the backyard, attempting to fix whatever problem they were having. The dwarf boys were scattered about talking to family members or texting on their phones.

All the dwarf kids were in their mid- to late-teens. Their heights and builds varied. Aside from Daisy, Doug seemed to be the smallest of the group so he was hard to pick out in the crowd. Carlos was shorter than Doug so looking for him was almost a lost cause, and Jay's thieving nature allowed him to blend in anywhere, even when he wasn't trying to steal anything.

Evie tried to search for her boys without attracting attention to herself. The sound of laughter and chatter filled the air. Everyone was so happy to see each other. The love they all had for each other warmed Evie's heart but also gave her a ping of sadness. What she would trade to have this with her mother...

A wolf whistle brought the girl back to reality. She whirled around to find the culprit, hoping it was Jay teasing her. It wasn't.

It was one of the dwarf boys. He was the same height as Evie with an average build. He had green eyes and auburn hair and was wearing a red-and-black plaid shirt with old blue jeans.

"Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?" He asked in an accent the Isle girl didn't recognize.

Evie's heart stopped for a moment. Did he know who her mother was? What was he about to tell? Would everyone else hate her because of it?

"I believe she's standing right in front of me. What's a beautiful woman like you doing here?" The boy looked her over.

She exhaled. He was only flirting. Thank goodness. "I am staying with Doug and Daisy over fall break."

"Oh, you're one of Uncle Dopey's guests my dad was telling me about. Well Daisy certainly has pretty friends." He smiled. "I look forward to getting to know each other more this week. I'm Bryston, Bashful's son, but you may call me Bryce." The boy stepped closer to her.

As a former flirt herself, Evie had to respect his charisma. "Really? I would have never guessed that. You're certainly not bashful." She grinned.

"Well you're not your parents. However, my mother was once very close friends with Queen Merida so you could say I know how to be brave, Miss..."

"Evie." _Evil Queen's daughter,_ she thought to herself. "And I totally agree with you on we are not our parents."

"Evie." Bryce echoed. "What a lovely name."

"Thank you. I don't mean to be rude, but have you seen Doug?" she asked politely.

"Now why would be looking for Doug? Am I not pleasant company?" A teasing grin played on the boy's lips.

"You are great company. I just want to find my boyfriend."

Bryce's grin fell, and a bright red blush spread from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. "I-I am so s-sorry. I didn't mean t-to... um... I just..." The poor boy was completely flustered now.

Evie couldn't help giggled. "It's alright. You didn't know."

"Is Bryce sticking his foot in his mouth again?" Another boy with a DiamondBucks cup in hand walked up and wrapped an arm around Bryce's shoulders.

"Shouldn't you be taking a nap somewhere, Shawn?" Bryce shot at the boy.

"I've had my coffee today. I'm good." the new boy held up his DiamondBucks cup. "I'm Shawn. I'm Sleepy's son. Who are you?"

Before Evie could speak, Bryce answered for her. "This is Evie. Doug's girlfriend."

Shawn's eyes went wide. "Wow! Go, Doug!" he said in awe. "I can't believe he got a princess."

"Well I'm not really-"

"Princess? Who got a princess?" Another boy cut Evie off.

"Doug. Isn't she pretty?"

"Gorgeous."

"Heigh ho..."

"Put your eyes and tongues back in your heads boys." Daisy appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

The three boys turned to their young cousin. Evie breathed a sigh of relief. She was used to getting attention, but this was getting a little awkward for her.

"Did you at least introduce yourselves before you started drooling?" Daisy smirked when the boys blushed.

"I did." Bryce and Shawn said.

"I didn't." the third boy raised his hand a little sheepishly. "Hi. I'm Donavan. Or Don. Or Donny. Or whatever you wanna call me." he rambled as he held out his hand.

"I'm Evie, and I'm going to guess Doc's son." she looked to Daisy for confirmation. All the dwarves nodded.

"So have you met everyone yet?" the younger girl asked.

"No. Not yet. Just these three."

"Well you've got a ways to go." Don grinned.

"But you're about to meet two more." Shawn grinned too, except he was looking passed the girls.

Daisy gave him a confused expression before all the color left her face. Should she just go ahead and start running?

Two loud battle cries silenced the rest of the crowd. Evie jumped and turned to see two more of dwarf kids were charging at them.

Daisy screamed and took off. Evie's arms flew up to guard and prepare for impact. When the impact never came, she opened her eyes and realised they were after only Daisy.

"Daisy!?" Evie cried, almost in a panic.

"No no no no no no!" Daisy yelled as she ran from her cousins.

Despite her awareness of her pursuers being family, she was terrified. When she glanced over her shoulder, she didn't see her cousins who would never hurt her for anything in the world: she saw Braxton.

The girl screamed again, and as soon as she did, something plowed into the dwarf boys, knocking them to the ground flat on their backs. There was Jay.

Daisy stopped in her tracks. She blinked twice. Her heart raced and her mind realed. As relieved as she was that Jay came to her rescue, the sight of her cousins on the ground had her panicking again.

"Hayden! Syngine! Are you okay?" Don dropped to his knees beside Happy and Sneezy's boys.

"Where did that mine car come from?" Hayden rubbed the knot forming on the back of his head.

"We kinda deserved that." Syngine chuckled through a groan.

Jay stepped back from the teens, breathing heavily. He had broken into a dead sprint when he heard Daisy's scream. He hadn't even thought about what would happen after he reached her. Instincts just kicked in.

"S-sorry." Jay whispered numbly. What did he just do?

 **A/N uh oh... Now what's gonna happen? Wonder what's going through everyone's head now? Plus if my count is correct, we've met only 5 of the 6 other dwarf kids. How is the last one going to react?**


	7. Chapter 7

No one moved. Everyone seemed to be frozen in time. All eyes were on Jay and the two boys on the ground.

The adults were confused by what just happened. The teens didn't know how to act to what just happened.

The stillness was shattered when someone charged forward and pinned Jay to a tree.

"Bad move, VK." The boy hissed, holding Jay by his vest. He was as tall as Jay but much heftier. Undoubtedly the biggest of the dwarf kids.

The teens snapped out of their daze. Evie heard what the boy called her brother and backed up. Doug heard it too and moved to Evie's side. Daisy was shaking. Don grabbed his cousin's arm.

"Greg, chill! We were just messing around. No blood no foul." Don tried to calm Grumpy's son.

The other dwarf boys started for Greg as well, but didn't make it far.

"Back off!" Greg commanded, establishing he was oldest and the alpha of the group, before looking back at Jay with fire in his eyes. "I'm not letting this VK get away with hurting my family."

The other boys jumped back. They exchanged wide-eyed, shocked expressions. The adults exchanged confused glances, unaware of what VK stood for.

"L-let him g-go." a trembling voice said.

The oldest dwarf didn't even look at the youngest. "Stay out of this, Daisy. This doesn't concern you."

"Y-yes, it does. H-he's my friend, and he only t-tackled Hayden and Syngine because they were c-chasing me." Daisy took a shaky step toward the two large boys.

"Friend?! Are you nuts?! He's a villain! He's dangerous! They all are!" Greg's eyes fell on each other the Core Four.

Carlos frowned, seeming disappointed.

Mal bit her lip, trying not to react.

Evie's heart shattered as she basically hid behind Doug.

Jay remained stoic. He didn't fight back for multiple reasons. He wasn't about to prove this guy right by blacking his eye, no matter how right that felt. He wouldn't risk making things worse for Evie. Plus Jay knew the boy and the glint in his eye. The oldest dwarf was a tourney player. Jay couldn't think of which team he played for at the moment, but he remembered going head to head with him before.

As for the fiery glare, it mirrored Jay's. Yes, there was rage fueling that fire, but it came from instinct. The same instinct that cause the current situation. A protective instinct.

"You don't know anything about them!" Daisy yelled. Her voice was steel, shocking everyone, especially her own family.

Dopey observed his daughter carefully, as well as his son and guests.

"I know enough." the large boy countered.

"Enlighten me." the small girl challenged.

The audience held their breath. No one knew what was about to came out of Greg's mouth.

The boy hesitated. He honestly hadn't expected to be called out. Not to mention he was starting to simmer down so whatever good reasoning he had in his enraged mind was now gone.

"They're the kids of the worst villains in the world." he tried to keep his words strong and convincing. "Cruella De Vil, Maleficent, Jafar, and the Evil Queen."

Tears started streaming down Evie's cheeks. Doug stayed in front of her, holding her hand tightly.

Daisy bristled. "What does that have to do with anything?" She snarled, head tilted down but eyes glaring up at her cousin.

Jay and Carlos caught each other's glance. Daisy's stance was reminding both of them of Dude when he had smelled a rat in their dorm room. Mal would be impressed by the younger girl if the confrontation wasn't between family members.

"They're villains." Greg reiterated however he didn't sound as sure of himself now. "Just like... Just like their parents."

"Yes because we're all exactly like our parents!" Dopey's daughter raised her voice again. "For example, Sneezy's son who's never been sick in his life!" She pointed to a proud looking Syngine. "Bashful's son can talk to girls without any problem and flirt like nobody's business." Bryce ran a hand through his hair shyly. "Oh yeah and Cinderella's son is so sweet when he's tormenting me at school!"

Jay closed his eyes as the dwarves gasped. He had hoped Daisy would never have to tell her family about being bullied, that she was happy enough to forget about that painful past, no matter how recent it truly was, just like he was able to.

"What?" Don gasped.

"Which one?" Bryce demanded.

"Nobody gets away with messing with one of us!" Syngine jumped up.

"Yeah! Not even a royal! Just ask the Evil Queen." Hayden smirked.

"Bro, Evie's already crying. Don't help." Shawn smacked Hayden on the back of the head.

"Did he hurt you?" Greg released Jay, turning his full attention to Daisy.

"He didn't get the chance." Doug spoke up. "They didn't give him a chance."

Everyone looked at Doug. His cousins wanted him to clarify, but the adults instantly knew who the boy was referring to.

Daisy nodded and continued her testimony. "That's right. That jerk couldn't hurt me, not really, because of my friends. Mal always keeps a cool head and calms me down when I'm stressed."

The purple haired girl cracked a smile at that.

"Carlos, I don't think anyone can be sad around Carlos. His laughter and happiness are contagious."

The De Vil boy held his head high.

"Evie is the kindest, gentlest, most compassionate girl I have ever met. We hadn't even met yet when I first got bullied and ran away crying. She ran after me to check on me and cheer me up. She's like the mom of the group, but that's one of the reasons she's amazing."

Evie laughed a bit as fresh, happy tears fell.

"And Jay," Daisy's words caught in her throat. "H-he makes me feel safe. Since I met him, he's been protecting me. From everything. I know nothing can hurt me as long as Jay is around. No bully even tries to come near me when Jay is with me. I don't have to hide."

Jay looked at Daisy, but his eyes were unreadable.

The small girl took a breath to gather herself. She studied each of her family members before speaking again.

"I don't care what you really think of them, but these are my friends. My best friends. You're not allowed to call them villains, not in front of me, because to me they are _heroes_!"

The dwarf boys looked at each other. Their mothers whispered to one another. The seven dwarves seemed to be lost in thought. Well six of the seven, Dopey was swelling with pride.

"So here's what's going to happen." Doug called everyone's attention to him. "We are going to start over. Clean slate. No one is going to tackle anyone." He eyed both Jay and Greg, who were rubbing the back of their necks sheepishly. "No one is going to call names or point fingers. Daisy isn't the only one that gets bullied. The 'VKs' are targeted too, and I'm not going to have you all do the same just because of a misunderstanding. Got it?"

Silence answered him.

Grumpy stepped forward. All eyes fell on him.

"Considering no one busted my boy's lip for blowing his top, I'd say that's the least we can do." the man smiled.


	8. Chapter 8

The arguing may have stopped, but the tension in the air was still thick. Even after Doug's little speech, everyone was afraid to really do or say anything. Abigail got ice for Hayden and Syngine to put on the knots forming on their heads. Grumpy pulled Greg to the side to talk. Carlos and Jay walked into the trees to put a little thinking room between them and the rest of the group. Mal helped Doug fix some of the decorations that were torn in the scuffle.

Daisy took Evie inside so the older girl could fix her make up and so she could calm down herself. Evie went to the bathroom while Daisy went to her room.

The dwarf climbed up to her bed and curled in a ball. She was trembling with frustration and anger. Hot tears ran down her cheeks until she was shaking from quiet sobs.

"Daisy?" a velvet voice called into the room. "May I come up?"

She didn't respond. She just scooted to one side of the bed because her silence was all the answer the man needed.

Dopey climbed the ladder and frowned when he saw his daughter crying. He crawled over to her, lying next to her and pulling her into a warm embrace.

Daisy wept into her father's chest. "E-every-everything is ru-u-uined! W-why?-" she hiccuped.

"Shhh... Everything is fine. No one is mad. No one is fighting. Everything is going to be okay." the man hushed the crying girl and rubbed gentle circles into her back.

"Daddy, they're n-not g-g-gonna give them a chance!"

"Yes, we are!" He insisted. "The grown ups expected something like this. We're not going to treat your friends any differently, especially after seeing how much they care about you."

Daisy pushed away from her father and sat up.

"Expected? What do you mean?" Confusion filled Daisy's puffy eyes.

Dopey hesitated. He opened his mouth to speak, but someone else's voice filled the room.

"Daz? Are you in here?"

The girl started drying her eyes with her blankets, trying to hide that she had been crying. Her dad reached up and held her cheek. He smiled softly as he wiped a final tear away.

"We're in here, Evie. Come on up." Dopey called to the teen, sliding over to make room for the new girl.

Evie climbed the ladder to the loft. She was over come with concern when her curious eyes met Daisy's puffy red eyes.

"Daz? Are you alright?"

The younger girl shook her head, no. Evie wrapped her arms around her, and Daisy buried her face in the older girl's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Evie. I'm so sorry." Daisy apologized in muffled cries.

"Sorry? What on earth are you sorry about?" Evie was taken aback.

"We promised that everything was going to be fine, and then I had to freak out and cause all this." She answered guilty.

The bluenette held the dwarf at arm's length. "No. You're not allowed to feel responsible for what just happened. It was an accident." she said firmly.

"That's right. It's no one's fault." Dopey agreed. "But if you have to blame anyone, blame me and your uncles."

The girls looked at the man, confused. He sighed and sat up straight.

"Listen. I probably should have told you this sooner, but I didn't think it mattered... We knew who you all were before you came. Where you're from. Who your parents are. The boys didn't know, but all the adults did." he admitted.

Evie's jaw dropped. She turned to Daisy, but she looked as shocked as Evie.

"You knew?" Daisy inquired.

Her father nodded.

"W-why didn't you say anything?" Evie stuttered.

"We figured there was a reason you didn't tell us. We decided that if you wanted us to know you'd tell us when you were ready. I understand keeping your roots a secret, but I want you to understand something, Miss Evie." His baby blue eyes locked with her chocolate brown. "No matter what bad blood we have with your mother, we will not cast our feelings toward her on to you. I promise you. Don't be afraid to be yourself."

Evie bit her lip to keep it from quivering. She was on the verge of tears again, but this time it was happy tears. "Thank you, Mr. Dwarfson." The girl bowed her head at the man.

"Don't call me Mr. Dwarfson. In this house, I'm Dad or Dopey, and I want this house to be a safe place for you and your friends. A home. If you don't mind, I also understand if you're not comfortable here yet. I don't wanna push you." He said sincerely.

"That sounds incredible, Mr. Dwa- I mean- Dopey." Evie sighed.

Dopey smiled widely. "Good. Now, you girls take as much time as you need. I'm heading back to the party and getting some cinnamon apple chips before my son and nephews figure out they're on the dessert table." The man kissed Daisy's forehead before descending the ladder.

The girls looked at each other. They considered staying in Daisy's room for a second. Then they started for the ladder.

"Wait for us!" Daisy called to her father.

"Yeah! You're not getting all the apple chips." Evie giggled.

 **A/N I honestly don't know where this chapter came from. It kinda just happened. It wasn't planned. I just started typing and this is the result. It's a little shorter than most chapters. Tell me what you think. I'm thinking of having Snow White and her family show up. What do you all think? Give me some ideas of who her kid is because I don't know whether I want another boy or a girl. I'd love to hear your ideas. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

As the girls caught up with Dopey, Daisy slipped on a beanie since the sun was sinking and the air was cooling. Her father gave her a strange look. Evie followed the man's gaze and smiled knowingly. Daisy was confused by the two. She pulled at her beanie off to see if something was wrong with it. A slight blush dusted her cheeks. The girl had grabbed Jay's red beanie instead of her purple one.

Daisy shrugged like nothing was wrong and put the beanie back on. Surely a simple color change wasn't going to be the gossip topic of the day.

Dopey, Daisy, and Evie stepped out of the house. They were surprised by what they found in the backyard.

"I got it!" Hayden called.

"I think Dude beat you to it!" Don laughed.

"Give it here, Dude. No! Dude! Drop it!" Carlos commanded.

Syngine, Hayden, Don, and Carlos, plus Dude, were playing ultimate frisbee together. Doug and Shawn seemed to be acting as referees on either side of the game. Mal and Jay were sitting with the adults by the fire-pit, watching the teens play. Greg was standing by the food table, gathering his plate and keeping checks on the frisbee match. Everyone was getting along or at least acting civil. Either way was a huge improvement from twenty minutes ago.

Evie and Daisy looked to each other with big smiles on their faces. Dopey sneaked over to the dessert table to grab a few cinnamon apple chips while the girls walked over to Mal, Jay, and the others.

"There they are. We were wondering where you two ran off to." Doc said to the girls.

"Come here and give me a hug, sweetheart." Happy opened his arms to Daisy.

"Hi, Uncle Happy." Daisy hugged him.

She went around the circle and hugged each of her aunts and uncles before taking a seat beside Jay. Whatever conversation the group was having before they were interrupted picked back up. No one had really paid much attention to the way Daisy tried to hide her face, except Jay.

"Are you okay?" He whispered.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She tried to throw the stand off and her break down in her room to the back of her mind.

"Daz..."

Daisy sighed softly. Of course he would notice. She tucked some hair behind her ear to reveal her eyes that were still swollen from crying. The boy's muscles tensed, but his eyes softened with sadness.

"I'm fine, Jay. I promise. Nothing I can't handle. I'd tell you otherwise." Daisy said honestly. "What about you?"

"Same." He answered with his signature smirk.

"Dopey!" Sneezy gasped when his brother appeared beside Evie and the teens. "Where did you get those?"

Dopey had a hand full of cinnamon apple chips. Everyone around the fire-pit turned to him. He looked like a deer in headlights. He slowly handed Evie and Daisy two apple chips each.

"I made them. He went straight to the dessert table." Nova, Grumpy's wife, eyed her brother-in-law.

"Aunt Nova made cinnamon apple chips!" Shawn, who had been standing near the group, yelled.

The ultimate frisbee game instantly stopped. The six of the dwarf sons and the six remaining dwarves froze for a moment, sizing each other up. Then they all ran for the dessert table.

"Move it or lose it!"

"Coming through!"

"Where's your tourney skills now, Syngine?"

"Right here!"

"Ouch! You're gonna pay for that one!"

"Age before brutality!"

"It's age before beauty."

"But Evie isn't over here, just you."

"OOOOHHHH! Did Doug just burn Bryce!?"

"Out of my way, young'uns!"

Abigail covered her eyes. She couldn't watch the wrestling match over food. Mal laughed at the sight. Evie thanked Dopey profusely for getting the treat for her so she didn't have to fight for it. Jay raised an eyebrow at Daisy, silently asking if this was normal.

"When you have big family and most of them are boys, you have to earn your right to eat." Daisy said with a serious tone. She popped her apple chip into her mouth and ran toward the brawl for more.

Carlos sat down beside his friends. He smiled sadly at Daisy's words. "Sounds kinda like the Island."

That grabbed the wives' attention. Abigail frowned. She remembered the stories Doug had told about how terrible life was for people on the Isle of the Lost.

"What do you mean by that?" Sleepy's wife asked curiously.

The four teens exchanged silent messages. Mal straightened in her chair. "Food on the Isle of the Lost wasn't exactly the easiest to come by, at least, food that was actually somewhat edible."

"Most of it was rotten. What little there was that still kinda good caused a lot of... Bad things to happen..." Evie explained vaguely.

The women cringed at the images their minds came up with.

"I would have thought that you all would get the best there was. Given that your parents are who they are." Doc's wife pondered aloud.

"They didn't care." Jay stated flatly.

"Didn't care about their own children?" Sneezy's wife was horrified by the idea.

Carlos, Mal, and Jay shooked their heads, no. Evie kinda shrugged.

True, her mother wasn't very kind and considerate, but she did make sure Evie was treated like the princess she rightfully was. The girl always had the least worn out clothes, every bit of make up that came to the Isle, and enough food to keep away hunger. It wasn't a lavish lifestyle, but it was the best they could get. The Evil Queen pushed her to be perfect, to be the fairest and to marry a prince. All were nearly impossible to actually achieve, but now Evie sees that her mother set those unreachable goals so her daughter could escape the slums of the Island, if only in her mind. Grimhilda did care about Evie, in her own special way. Even if the villain never showed it, she loved her daughter with all her dark heart.

"Well," Happy's wife began, snapping Evie out of her thoughts. "You won't have to worry about that here."

"And one thing is certain." Bashful's wife said with a Scottish accent. "We may fight for the good food, but there's plenty to go around."

"Aunt Kelly's right, but it always helps to have some skills." Daisy appeared with a plate full of cinnamon apple chips and other sweet treat.

Her four friends' eyes widen at the sight. Daisy was the last one to go in. How did she get that much food?

"How did you...?" Carlos halfway asked in shock.

"I'm the littlest and the youngest. If I want to eat, I have to sneak." the girl grinned mischievously as she munched on an apple chip.

Jay looked the girl over. He didn't believe her. There was no way a sweet, innocent girl like Daisy could be anything close to a thief.

She winked at the boy and adjusted her/his beanie. Jay chuckled.

"Personally I think it's the hat rubbed off on her." Doug joked, plucking the red beanie off his sister's head.

The aunts and their mother were confused by the joke and studies the siblings. Daisy glared at her brother. A smirk crossed her lips.

"If that's how that works, I would love to see how well you can pull off winged eyeliner." Daisy snatched her beanie back.

Evie giggled. She was the only one who appreciated that comeback.

All the boys finally got their desserts and came back to the fire. As the sun set, the family began sharing stories and joked. Laughter filled the cool night air. Happy's wife was right. The Core Four didn't have to worry about not being cared about because there were so many different personalities in this large family, it was hard not to find someone you got along with. There was too much warmth not to feel it. Too much love.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning Doug was woken up by the smell of breakfast circling through the house. The boy's drowsy vision was blurred as he scanned his room. A large handmade bookshelf was across from his bed. A flat screen TV was mounted on the wall with a DVD player and a gaming system under it. Across the room from that was a pullout couch that Carlos and Jay had agreed to share. However, when Doug's eyes focused, he saw that Carlos and Dude were the only ones on the couch. Jay was nowhere to be found.

Doug grabbed his glasses from his night stand and sat up.

"Carlos." he called to his sleeping friend. "Carlos, wake up!"

The white-haired teen responded with a moan.

"Get up. My mom's cooking breakfast." Doug climbed out of bed and shuffled to the door, still too tired to walk properly.

When he opened the door, the scent of bacon and pancakes that had flooded the rest of the house rushed into the room full force. Carlos and Dude spang up, now wide awake. Both had their noses pointed toward the door, breathing in the aroma of food.

"Morning." Doug laughed. "Come on. Let's go eat."

Carlos hopped off the bed and basically ran out of the room with Dude right behind him.

As the two boys walked down the stairs, they heard chatter and giggles coming from the kitchen. Dude sped ahead of them and darted into the kitchen.

"Hi, Dude. Did you sleep well?" Abigail asked the dog.

Dude barked in response. Abigail let out a surprised laugh.

"Well aren't you a smart little pup?" The woman smiled.

"He's very smart. Smarter than me sometimes." Carlos joked.

"Well you look who decided to get out of bed." Mal smirked.

Doug and Carlos turned to see Daisy, Jay, Evie, Mal, and Dopey sitting at the dinner table. Everyone was still wearing pajamas, even Evie, which surprised Doug a bit. However she had put on a little make-up and brushed her hair, which was more than anyone else had done.

Carlos opened his mouth to defend himself but ended up yawning instead. The group at the table laughed. The dwarf boy just shrugged and ran his fingers through his messy hair. Carlos took a seat beside Mal while Doug sat between his girlfriend and his sister.

"So what are you all doing today?" Abigail asked from her station in front of the stove.

"I don't know. I honestly hadn't thought of much to do." Doug rubbed sleep from his eyes.

"Douglas!" his mother gasped, causing her son to cringe. "I told you to plan some activities for you and your friends to do while they're here. You are not going to lay around the house all week. That's boring and a little rude." she scolded.

"Yes, ma'am."

Daisy signed something to her father. He crinkled his nose and shook his head. She frowned slightly and signed something else. The man thought for a moment before holding up one finger, telling his daughter to save that for later. The girl signed one last thing, and Dopey gave her a thumbs-up with a big smile. The two fist-bumped.

"It's also not polite to have silent conversations at the table." Abigail eyed the duo, who responded with big innocent grins.

Abigail rolled her eyes and began setting large plates of food on the table. Stacks of pancakes, a bowl full of scrambled eggs, two pounds of crispy bacon, a bowl of hash browns, and a basket of homemade biscuits. Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos all went wide eyed at the spread in front of them. Carlos started drooling as badly as Dude. When the woman turned to grab the syrup and condiments, the three dwarves reached over to fill their plates. A spatula came out of nowhere and whacked the three impatient hands, causing the owners to help and the guests to jump.

"Where are your manners today?" Abigail questioned, spatula posed to strike again. "Our guests get to make their plates first. Than you all may eat. Understood?"

Dopey protectively held his hurt hand with his good one. Doug shook his hand in an attempt to get rid of the pain. Daisy sucked on her wounded knuckle. They nodded compliantly.

"Good. Kids, go ahead and get as much as you like. There's plenty."

Carlos didn't hesitate. He filled his plate in half a second. Jay and Evie were slower to get their food, bewildered by what had just happened. Mal snickered a bit at the whole situation.

"And they say Auradon parents are pushovers." The purple haired girl smirked.

"Not all of us." Abigail sat down beside her husband. "So if you don't know what you're doing this week, I can tell you at least two things you will be doing."

Daisy and Doug exchanged a glance as they finally got their breakfast. The siblings gave their mother their full attention.

"Tuesday is the music festival in town. Since it finally falls on a school break this year, the whole family is going. Then Saturday we're going to Silvia's coronation. And you're not getting out of this one like you did Ben's, Daisy."

"Hey, Doug and Shawn were the only ones of the boys who went, and Shawn slept through the whole thing." Daisy defended.

Doug stifled a laugh. Auradon Prep students were really the only kids that attended Ben's coronation, and it was mandatory for the whole school to go, which Shawn hadn't realized. The boy had planned to sleep or play video games the whole day. When Doug showed up to drag his cousin out of his dorm room just before the coronation was scheduled to start, they didn't have time to get Shawn's much needed coffee. The dwarf fell asleep just before Ben entered and was completely clueless to what had happened, even Maleficent's surprise appearance.

"Coronation?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, I thought Ben was the only ruler." Carlos added, confused.

"Do you two not pay attention in government?" Evie questioned.

Her brothers merely shrugged. She rolled her eyes.

"To put it basically, Auradon is set up like a school. Ben is the King, the headmaster. He's ultimately in charge of the all the kingdoms, but each kingdom is also in charge of itself and its people, like a teacher with their class." Mal explained.

"Yeah, the United States of Auradon is more of an alliance of kingdoms than a huge singular kingdom." Doug further clarified.

Jay and Carlos nodded in understanding.

"So who's Silvia? Is she becoming queen?" Evie looked to Abigail.

"Close. She is Snow White's daughter, and she is becoming a princess. Just like royals are crowned king or queen after they turn sixteen and prove themselves worthy, they have to be crowned prince or princess to mark the beginning of their training to rule when they turn eight."

"I told you it was smart to pack some formal clothes. Every possible situation." Evie said smugly to Mal, who responded with a slight sneer.

"Wait. Does that mean I have to wear a dress?" Daisy realized.

"Yes! That's what you and I are doing Wednesday: going dress shopping." Her mother smiled.

Evie perked up at the idea, but Daisy groaned.

"I hate dresses. Can't I just wear jeans and a t-shirt?"

Her friends laughed at her reaction. Abigail giggled and shook her head, no. Daisy pouted.

Once everyone was done with breakfast, Dopey and Doug helped Abigail clean up. Jay, Carlos, and the girls went up stairs to get dressed and ready for the day. When the group was about to split into their respective rooms, Daisy stopped them.

"Okay, so I have an idea of what we can do today. Dress ready for a hike and a swim." The dwarf told her friends.

The four older teens looked at each other and shrugged. They didn't know what Daisy had planned, but they did as they were told.

 **A/N hopefully I explained how my version of Auradon works well enough. I don't like that Snow was a reporter in the movie. I would think that if all the royals are going to keep their status, they should keep their throne. So to explain Snow being a reporter at Ben's coronation, she was like a celebrity host, like what they have at award shows and stuff. I thought about having Snow's daughter be named Emma since I'm doing to be using some Once Upon A Time characters and names, like with Grumpy's wife Nova, but I decided to stick with the Descendants' tradition of naming kids based on the first letter of their parent's name, even though I did break that tradition when I named Braxton. Whoops. Oh well. Tell what you all think and try to guess what Daisy has planned.**


	11. Chapter 11

"So why are we getting dressed for a hike and a swim?" Mal asked as pull her shirt down over her bikini.

"Because I wanna show you guys some of the mountain. That's the hike. It's hotter than usual today, plus we'll be hot from the hike, so we can cool off in the river. That's the swim." Daisy was packing a backpack with towels, snacks, waters, and a first aid kit.

Evie laced up her combat boots and pulled her hair into a pony tail. "I'm ready."

"So are we!" Carlos called from the other side of Daisy's bedroom door.

The Mal and Evie walked to the door and opened it to reveal Carlos, Dude, and Jay. The boys were wearing their signature Isle clothes. Daisy grabbed her camera and left her room. The group started down the hall to the stairs.

"Going on an adventure?" Doug asked from the bottom of the steps.

Daisy stopped at the top of the stairs. She hesitated to answer. She couldn't read the look in her brother's eyes.

"Yes..."

The boy looked to each of his friends and then to his sister. He adjusted his glasses, stuck his hands in his pockets, and sighed.

"You know mom and dad don't like it when you go exploring when we have people over." Daisy frowned and Doug smirked a little. "But it's been a while since I went on an adventure with you, so let's go."

Daisy's face split in two with a broad smile. "Really?!"

"Mom! Dad! We're going out for a while!" Doug called to his parents.

"Have fun!" Dopey called back.

"Be home before dark!" Abigail added.

The teens smiled. They ran down the stairs. Daisy lead the group out the back door and into the forest.

* * *

The sun was stilling climbing in the sky as the teens walked through the woods. The temperature was warm and comfortable. Some leaves were already beginning to shift from lush green to vibrant orange.

"So where are you taking us, Daz?" Doug asked, looking to his sister.

The young leader was holding her arms out to keep her balance as she walked across a fallen tree trunk.

"I'm thinking we go up to the lookout bluff to show them to whole mountain. Then we climb down to the river for a swim."

"I know I'm going to end up enjoying this in the long run so I'm going to get my complaining out of the way now. How long is this going to take?" Evie asked with a laugh.

Daisy giggled at her friend and hopped down from the log. "It all depends on how long you want to take. We could be out here anywhere from an hour or two to all day."

"I vote for all day!"

"Me too!"

"Count me in!"

Daisy, Mal, Carlos, Evie, and Doug jumped at the new voices. The group spun around to find Syngine, Hayden, Bryce, Don, Shawn, and Greg walking a little ways behind them.

"Where did you guys come from?" Carlos looked at the dwarf boys, confused.

"Well my dad tells me the stork, but I'll pretty sure that's not right." Hayden remarked.

The other boys chuckled at their cousin's lame joke.

"They've been following us since we left the house." Jay spoke up.

"Why?" Mal asked.

Syngine hopped up on top of a boulder. He struck a heroic pose and looked to the sky. "We seek the great water of the mountain. My brothers and I have set out this quest knowing the journey will be long but the reward will be bountiful!"

Carlos's and Evie's eyes widen in awe. Mal raised an eye brow at the boy while Jay gave him a strange look. Doug snickered, and Daisy giggled at their cousin.

Syngine and Hayden were the goof balls of the dwarf kids. They loved messing around. Bryce was the sensitive one of the group, always ready to listen and give advice when he wasn't flirting with a pretty girl. Greg was the big, strong leader who could be really mean but only because he had a big heart and wanted everyone to be safe, even if he'll never admit it. Don was responsible and kept everyone from getting totally out of control as the laid-back second in command. Shawn and Doug were the geniuses and the masterminds; Doug would think about a situation all the way through, normally, while Shawn came up with quick ideas that are brilliant for that moment. Daisy was the glue that held them all together: curious, playful, sweet, and mischievous.

"We were planning to go to the river for a swim." Don clarified.

Syngine's heroic act dropped and he frowned. "Oh when you put it that way, it doesn't sound as cool."

The group of teens laughed.

"We'll be there later. We're going to the lookout first." Daisy started walking.

"We'll come with you." Greg spoke up a little too eagerly, making Daisy turn to him with a suspicious look. "Safety in numbers. They don't know the mountain and could get hurt." he reasoned.

The girl rolled her eyes and started walking again. She tried to ignore her cousin's lack of trust in her friends.

As the group traveled farther and farther into the forest, Evie was amazed more and more by her surroundings. The beaten path they were on dipped, rose, and curved with the unaltered earth. The mountain terrain was a lot more lush than the girl had expected. There were small patches of wild flowers scattered across the ground. Ivy vines and moss wove together to decorate boulders, logs, and the base of tree trucks. The trees were huge and seemed to reach the sky. The branches intertwined with each other to create bridges and runways for the chipmunks scurrying about. Birds sang beautiful melodies as they swept through the woods. The air was fresh and crisp, much cleaner than the smog of the Island and even that of Auradon City.

The bluenette now understood why Daisy spoke so highly of her home and missed it so much. It was spectacular here. Spacious. Luscious. Pure. Uplifting. Evie felt like she could fly. She had never felt so unbounded and free. Who would have thought just being somewhere could make you feel this incredible?

"This is it. The final climb to the lookout bluff." Doug announced. "Be careful though. It's steep."

"You don't say..." Jay remarked.

The final climb was the side of the mountain. The steady incline they had been trekking up turned up to form a near vertical stair case of trees, roots, and rocks. It wouldn't be impossible to reach the top, but anyone unfamiliar with this type of terrain would have a very hard time. The rest of the hike had been a wall in the park compared to this.

"So... Who wants to go first?" Shawn turned to the four VKs.

Carlos backed up. Mal looked to Jay and Evie. Jay looked at Evie too.

"No. I don't think it's even possible to climb that." Evie stepped away from the mountain side.

"Oh it's very possible. We've done this a hundred times." Don motioned to himself and the other dwarf boys, even Doug.

"Well, you're boys. It would be almost impossible for a girl to make it to the top." Evie countered.

The dwarves startled looking around. Whatever they were searching for wasn't there. Confusion and worry filled their eyes. A whistle called the group's attention upward.

They looked up to find Daisy sitting on a tree that was growing sideways out of the wall of earth. The girl was about half way to the top. She waved at the group below. Her friends' jaws dropped while her cousins and brother shook their heads and grinned.

"How did you get up there?" Carlos called.

"Climbed." Daisy answered simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was.

The dwarf boys laughed. Greg and Syngine hopped up on the rocks and started ascending the steps of roots and boulders.

"Come on. It's honestly not that hard. You just have to watch your footing." Bryce insisted as he began climbing.

Jay jumped to grab on to a thick tree root, which he used to pull himself up. He maneuvered the boulders to reach the halfway point with Daisy. The dwarf girl seemed extremely impressed by the speed at which Jay had made it to her. She smiled before standing from her resting place and heading toward the top.

Carlos and Shawn were the next to step up, followed by Hayden and Mal. The two dwarves made sure to watch that the Isle kids didn't miss a step. They pulled themselves over the edge at the top, leaving the wall clear.

Doug offered Evie a hand. She took a deep breath and took her boyfriend's hand. If Daisy could do it with ease, she could do it with mild struggles.

When Evie and Doug finally made it to the top, Evie gasped at the view in front of her. The entire mountain range was laid out in front of her. The early evening sun raised high in the sky, shining on the mountain peaks and shadowing the low valleys. Patches of red and orange stuck out of the green landscape. The sky was bright blue with pure white, fluffy clouds floating softly along. It was picture perfect scene.

"Wow..." the bluenette breathed.

The wind blowing and shaking the leaves was the only sound. The dwarves observed the new comers. They were amused by the wonder in the four teens' eyes. A place they saw so much and took for granted had amazed the four into silence.

Daisy set her backpack on the ground, pulling out her camera. She snapped two pictures of the view before switching to her friends. Carlos had a huge smile on his face as he scanned the mountain range. Mal was breathing in the crisp mountain air; arms out stretched to take it all in. Evie was resting her head on Doug's shoulder, holding his hand and enjoying the moment. Jay was sitting on the ground with one of his knees brought to his chest, thoughtful eyes looking off in the distance, and a soft smile on his lips. Daisy smiled down at her camera at the pictures.

The group remained like that for a while. As content as they would be staying on the bluff for the rest of the day, the boys really wanted to go to the river.

"So you showed us how to get up safely. How do you get down safely?" Carlos asked as he glance over the end of the cliff.

"Take the trail." Shawn thumbed over his shoulder.

Across from the rock wall they had climbed was a well beaten that gradually wound down the mountain.

"Why didn't we use that to get up here?" Mal questioned.

"Where's the fun in taking the easy way?" Syngine responded with a cheeky grin.

Jay chuckled at the unamused expression on Mal's face. Evie gave Doug a slight stink eye as well. Her boyfriend placed an apologetic kiss on her cheek.

"Come on! We're burning daylight!" Hayden called as he started down the path to the river.

Everyone began walking toward the trail, except for Jay. Daisy stopped when she noticed this. She stepped back up to the lookout. Jay was still on the ground, still staring off into the distance. Daisy eyed him curiously.

"Jay?"

Her voice seemed to snap him out of his trance. He turned his head to the girl and looked her over.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Concern filled Daisy's words.

Jay put on his signature smirk. The one, Daisy had learned, he used to cover up whatever he was really feeling with a strong and confident air.

"Nothing. Just thinking about things. That's all." He stood up and smacked some dirt off his pants. "Let's go."

Daisy hesitated. She smiled sadly and nodded. They ran down the trail to catch up with the rest of the teens.

The girl would figure out what was on his mind in time. She just had to wait for him to let his guard slip, for him to come out from behind the walls he puts up.

* * *

 **A/N I am SO sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I had some much stuff going on with school and life. I just didn't have time and when I did have time, I was either too tired to write or nothing would come to me. This chapter was really forced because I could not think of any good way for this to play out. Hopefully the rest of the story will come more easily because I've had what I want to happen planned for weeks. I just have to translate the image in my head into words on the computer, which is very hard to do sometimes. Again I'm so sorry for the wait.**


	12. Chapter 12

"Hurry up, slowpokes!" Evie called up to her friends.

"We're coming!" Jay yelled.

He and Daisy came speeding down the trail to where the others were at the bottom. Doug raised a questioning eyebrow at the duo when they finally caught up.

"What took you two so long?"

"Jay wasn't paying attention." Daisy said with a little giggle.

"Guess I got lost in the view." Jay shrugged.

The group didn't say anything else about the delay and began walking again. As they made their way to the river, Carlos got an idea. He started the tune in his head and adjusted his step to match the rhythm.

"Heigh Ho. Heigh Ho. It's off to work we go." The De Vil boy sang.

Mal snickered at her brother. Jay watched the younger boy, amused. Evie internally cringed and looked to the dwarves, whom she expected to all jump in on their iconic song. To her surprise, they all groaned at the sound of the melody.

"We've heard that song a million times,"

"And it really does get old,"

Greg and Don complained in tune.

"Heigh Ho!" The rest agreed.

Evie and Mal were nearly doubled laughing. Jay had to stop and lean against a tree to keep from falling over because he was laughing so hard. Carlos grinned sheepishly.

"My bad. Sorry." he apologized.

Hayden dropped a hand on Carlos's shoulder and gave him a slight shake. "It's cool, man. You didn't know." the dwarf reassured the white haired boy.

"However you start that around our dads," Syngine rolled his eyes. "You can forget about it. They'll never shut up."

Everyone chuckled.

When the teens finally arrived at the river, it was obvious this was a popular spot. There were net hammocks strung between trees in a circular group around what seemed to be a fire pit from the look of the permanently scorched ground. A large tree growing out of the river bank had a rope swing hanging from it and boards nailed into the trunk to allow easy access to the thick branches that reach over the pale blue water. The lush river bank below the tree had been beaten into hard, bare earth from years of traffic.

Evie could barely begin to imagine the number of summer memories that were made here. She was so glad it was warm enough for them to make one more before the cold weather retired the swimming hole for the season.

The dwarf boys started yanking off their shirts and shoes and throwing them in a pile by the hammocks. Bryce was the first to get down to his swim trucks and jump off the bank into the water, followed by Syngine and Don.

"Jewels and crystals! That's cold!" Don yelled when he resurfaced, shivering from the shock of hitting the icy water.

Syngine came up whooping and hollering like the chill just fueled his energy.

"Jump in! The cold only lasts for a minute!" Bryce called to the others.

"Yeah? You probably go numb after that." Mal wagered.

"Technically... yes." Doug confirmed as set his glasses' case down and moved toward the river bank. "Your body adjusts to the temperature change after so long and, in a sense, is numb to the cold feeling."

"Shut up and come on, brainiac!" Hayden tackled Doug into the river, causing the latter to scream from surprise.

Daisy laughed when Doug resurfaced spitting and sputtering. Evie giggled at her boyfriend. Carlos and Greg passed the girls as they made their way to the water. Mal turned on her heels and walked to the hammocks to take off the clothes she had on over her swimsuit. Evie followed suit.

When Daisy turned to go the hammocks as well, she stopped in her tracks. Heat rose to her cheeks and her ears as she blushed vibrantly. One would think that when the young girl came up with the idea to go swimming with her friends, she would have thought about what required to be seen in order to swim. However that thought never crossed her mind.

Until now.

As a shirtless Jay stood in front of her.

The dwarf had known that Jay had muscle - half his shirts were sleeveless so it was hard to miss - but she had never seen more than his arms. The boy had abs. A six pack of well cut abs.

Daisy was in a total state of shock. Her heart was fluttering in her chest. She couldn't breathe, and her head was spinning. She felt like she was having an anxiety attack, except she wasn't panicking. Well not panicking like she normally did during an anxiety attack. Now she was just worried about being caught staring. Or drooling. Was she drooling? Oh she really hoped she wasn't drooling. Her mouth was probably hanging open. Did she look stupid just standing there? Was he gonna hate her for staring? Why was she still staring?! And there's the normal anxiety she knew and hated so much.

"Hey, Daz," Jay's voice brought the girl back to reality. "Watch this." He was either oblivious to Daisy's staring or was kind enough to not address it. Thank goodness.

Jay sprinted toward the river, but instead of jumping in the water, he grabbed the rope swing. He flew high into the air on the swing. When he let go, he flipped midair and dove into the water.

The other boys cheered when Jay resurfaced. Jay threw his head back and howled victoriously. Daisy breathed a laugh and smiled in amazement.

"Heigh Ho..." Daisy signed.

"He's such a show off."

The dwarf jumped, startled by the voice. She spun on her heels toward the owner. Daisy turned white as snow when she faced Mal, standing right beside her.

"W-w-what?" Daisy stuttered.

"Jay. He's a show off. I haven't seen him doing a lot of showing off for the last few months." Mal raised a suspicious eyebrow at Daisy and looked her over. "Except when he's around you."

The dwarf's cheeks burned red hot. "Wh-what is t-that s-supposed to mean?" she squeaked.

Mal smirked a bit. "Nothing. Nothing." the purple haired girl waved off the subject as she walked toward the water. "Go change! You're the one who came up this adventure idea. It wouldn't be right if you missed out on the fun!"

With a quick shake to clear her head, Daisy turned to the trees to change behind. She placed her hand on the nearest and hesitated. She glance over her shoulder at the river. Her friends and family were swimming, jumping, splashing, and laughing together. The sight warmed her heart and calmed her nerves. Daisy smiled at the group before stepping behind the tree to change. She wasn't about to miss out on one of the best memories she would have here.

 **A/N alright the play is done so no more rehearsals to take up all my time. I still have finals this and next week so I can't promise a speedy update until winter break. Looks like Daisy might be looking at Jay in a new light after she got an eye full of muscles XD and what's Mal hinting at? Lol I'm sly I swear ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

Carlos was enjoying swimming in the river. The dwarves were a lot more fun than his siblings. With so many more people if someone got tired or bored, the games didn't have to stop. He was used to Mal and Evie not wanting to play games constantly, but Jay was always up for fun, except for today for some reason.

Besides that awesome flip into the river, all Jay had done was keep an eye on Evie and Doug. The couple was basically oblivious to anyone else around them, which Carlos didn't think much of. It wasn't like they were making out or anything; they were just smiling, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. Doug had even carved their initials into one of the trees.

"Ease up on the daggers, bro. You're going to burn a hole in Doug's head." Carlos chuckled as he floated on his back over to Jay.

Jay glanced at his brother for half a second before switching his attention back to Doug standing behind Evie, showing her where to place her hands on the rope swing to get the best grip.

"Reminder: he is our friend." Carlos added. He then noticed that Jay's eyes weren't threatening, as if he were waiting for his cue to step in, but focused, like when he was studying old game tapes.

"I know that. And Evie is our sister." Jay's gaze remained locked on the princess and the dwarf.

The De Vil boy rolled his eyes. He thought Jay was being ridiculous for watching the couple. Doug wasn't like how Jay used to be. Doug was a gentleman, not a playboy. He was all about treating girls right. Then something clicked in Carlos's head, and he smirked.

"Speaking of sisters..." he floated to be in front of the older boy. "Where's Daisy?"

When Jay instantly started looking for the girl, Carlos got a huge Cheshire cat grin on his face. Jay noticed this and splashed the boy. Carlos just laughed.

"Careful, wildflower!" Bryce called, catching the boys' attention. "Don't do anything too reckless now."

"Yeah. That's our job!" Hayden and Syngine laughed together.

Jay and Carlos were confused about whom the dwarves were talking to. Just then Daisy popped her head out from behind the tree that grew from the river bank. She was nearly at the top of the makeshift ladder and was almost to the branches that reached across the water.

"I'm always careful!" Daisy assured her cousin as she climbed a little more and stood in the fork of the tree.

Jay averted his eyes when he first saw her. She was now in a forest green two piece swimsuit. The top looked like a sports bra and the bottoms were short board shorts. It was decently modest but still more revealing than anything Jay had expected the dwarf girl to wear.

Then again since they got to Dwarf Mountain, Jay had seen a side of Daisy he never have known she kept hidden away. The fighter. The defender. The sneak. The girl was different here. She didn't try to hide who she really was because there was no one here to judge or hurt her. She could be the girl she wanted to be on a daily basis but couldn't be out of fear. The girl that he had seen tiny glimpses of every now and then since the day they met. She wasn't as delicate as many believed. She was strong. Stronger than even Jay thought she was.

Daisy looked out at the two large branches in front of her that stretched across the river. She glanced down at the water. A small smile graced her lips when she saw her friends watching her, even Evie who had just resurfaced after jumping in using the rope swing. The dwarf girl took a breath, held her arms straight out to the sides, and started walking on the branch.

Doug was confused as to why no one had paid attention to Evie swinging into the river. Normally everyone loved watching people on the rope swing. When Doug followed his girlfriend's gaze up to his sister, he understood. The boy was so busy helping Evie with the rope swing that he hadn't noticed Daisy climbing the tree right beside him. However he instantly went into overprotective-big-brother mode when he saw what she was doing.

"Daz, get down from there! You could fall!"

The girl rolled her eyes at her brother's words. "Yes. And if I fall, I'm falling into a river, where I'm going to end up anyway when I come down." She remarked.

All the others laughed at the snarky comeback.

The dwarves had tied a red ribbon on the branch to mark how far it was safe to go to. Daisy continued her balancing act until she reached that red ribbon.

"Watch this..." She whispered to herself.

With one last big breath, Daisy sprang up into the air. As her feet left the branch, she curled into a ball and flipped backwards. She managed two rotations before hitting the water. A little harder than anticipated since a cringe-worthy smack echoed against the trees.

The dwarf boys did in fact cringe when Daisy splashed into the river. Evie gasped.

"That had to hurt." Mal winced.

Jay slapped Carlos on the arm. The younger boy nodded, and the two dove underwater. They swam down to Daisy, who was still trying to figure out which way was up. Carlos got to her first and touched her arm. Daisy spun and smiled a little sheepishly at the boys. Carlos pointed upward. When she seemed to struggle to swim, Jay grabbed her under the arms and brought the girl to the surface.

Daisy gasped and coughed when they reached air. She started to sink again when she tried to swim. Her arms really hurt after impacting with the water. She couldn't keep herself afloat.

Jay moved to be in front of Daisy and put her arm around his neck so her petite form was on his back.

The dwarf blushed a bit but held on.

"I guess that wasn't very graceful." Daisy admitted.

"Oh it was very graceful. Up until it wasn't" Shawn joked, causing the dwarf boys to laugh.

The young girl frowned. "Was it really that bad?" She mumbled, sadly resting her chin on Jay's shoulder.

"I thought it was really cool." Jay said honestly, which made Daisy smile.

"The flip was awesome. You just need to work on the landing. Or would it be called 'watering'? 'River-ing'?" Carlos contemplated as he surveyed Daisy's back.

Her right shoulder blade and some of her upper back were red. She crashed into the water so hard that the straps of her top left a small cut on her neck.

"Are you alright, Daz?" Doug asked.

"Yep! I'm fine." Daisy smiled widely.

Carlos raised a suspicious eyebrow at his friend. Her voice was way too chipper to be sincere. He gingerly ran his fingers over one of the multiple red patches on the dwarf girl's back. When she flinched, the boy smirked.

"You're gonna be sore and bruised tomorrow." He announced.

All the teens frowned at that.

"Maybe we should head home." Greg suggested.

"NO!" Daisy protested. "It's not fair to make everyone go home just because I was being stupid."

The dwarves exchanged glances. It was only the middle of the afternoon. They didn't really want to call it a day, but it was obvious that Daisy was hurt. She didn't need to stay around the river because she would be too stubborn to keep out of the water. Plus it wouldn't be fair for everyone else to continue swimming when she couldn't.

"Alright. We won't go to the house, but we're not staying here." Don said as he swam to the bank. "We can go exploring."

 **A/N moral of the story: leave the showing off to the boys. Lol. If you've ever done a trick off a high dive (or even a normal driving board) and fail miserably, you know that smacking the water extremely painful and it takes you a second to figure which direction is up once you're underwater. I had a friend do something similar to what I had Daisy do and he had bruises for nearly a week. It was really funny actually. OK GUYS I NEED YOUR HELP! In a later chapter a new character is going to show up. The only hint I'm giving you is his parents are enemies with the parent of one of the Core Four. He will _try_ to flirt with one of the girls, BUT he will be terrible at flirting. I need you all to give me ideas of what this guy can say or do. I am also making a poll in my profile for you all to vote on his name. Any input you all want to offer is welcome and greatly appreciated: how he acts, how the girls react to him, how the boys react to him, etc. My goal is to have three more chapters up before the new year. I don't know if it will actually happen or not but it's my goal. Wish me luck! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!**


	14. Chapter 14

All the teens had gotten out of the river and were sifting through the pile of discarded clothing for their own clothes. Daisy winced when she raised her arms above her head to put her shirt on. She really was hurt worse than she would ever admit. Doug got in the backpack Daisy had brought and pulled out the small first-aid kit. He put medicine and a bandage on the cut on Daisy's neck for her.

"Thanks..." The girl mumbled with dull eyes looking down at the ground.

Doug smiled sympathetically. "I haven't seen you try that flip in a long time. Why the sudden urge to attempt it?"

Daisy shrugged, but pain shot through her shoulders as soon as she did so, causing her to gasp sharply through her teeth. Concern filled Doug's eyes as he frowned. The girl tried to brush off the pain like it was nothing. "I don't know. I guess I was just feeling brave. Why does it matter? The boys didn't seem to think much of it."

"They don't exactly realize how much you've changed, Daz." Her brother countered in a low tone.

"I wish I hadn't changed." she whispered with a small pout. "I miss feeling like I did during that flip all the time."

"I know you do... I have seen you acting more like how you used to since you started at Auradon Prep. You've got your mischievous streak back." he said as he ran his fingers up and down his sister's ribs, making her squirm and giggle.

"Stop it!" Daisy shrieked between giggles.

Doug smiled brightly at the sound of her laughter. He also noticed that the light had returned to his sister's eyes just from tickling her. That was much better.

"So where are we gonna go from here?" Shawn asked to no one in particular as he slid his shirt on.

Everyone had finally found their clothes and were taking their time getting dressed. Doug and Daisy had been standing off to the side. Evie and Mal were fully clothed and sitting hip-to-hip in one of the hammocks. Greg was lying in the hammock farthest from the girls. Syngine and Hayden sat on the root of a tree, pulling on their tennis shoes. Jay shook some of the water out of his wet hair before Carlos tossed him a towel. Bryce and Don leaned against a tree and waited for someone to answer Shawn's question.

"Let's head south." Hayden suggested.

"South? This spot right here is as far south as we're allowed to go. Anything farther down is off limits." Don reminded his cousin.

"Why?" Carlos asked curiously.

Most of the dwarf boys shrugged. "We don't know. Our parents always said that there was nothing to see that way so might as well not look." Bryce spoke up.

"Haven't you ever wondered why they say that? Don't you wanna find out what they're trying to hide from us?" Syngine got a wild, mischievous look in his eye.

The teens exchanged glances. Mal was intrigued by the idea of a forbidden secret. She saw curiosity slowly overcoming the more wary of the group, even Daisy.

"What's the harm in walking a little ways? If we don't see anything interesting or see something dangerous, we'll turn around and leave." Hayden tried convincing everyone.

Eventually all the teens agreed to explore south of the swimming hole. They stayed close to the river so they could find their way back since this was new territory for all of them.

"Who wants to guess what's down here?" Syngine called over his shoulder. He and Hayden were leading.

"Stock pile of diamonds?" Greg guessed.

"Maybe there's an old cemetery this way." Mal said with a playfully creepy voice.

"I bet it's a haunted mine shaft." Bryce chucked a bit.

"It's a wild goblin's den. Obviously." Shawn joked.

"Hey, guys, what's that?" Daisy pointed to something washed up on the bank on the river.

Hayden looked over at it. "Probably some drift wood. Don't worry about it. Let's keep going." He and Syngine continued walking.

The others stopped to inspect to debris. When they got closer, they realized the object was an old boat. Doug and Jay flipped over the capsized vessel. The wood was soft from being left out in the weather and nearly broke in two when the boys moved it.

"Why is this here?" Doug asked.

"Did dwarves ever use boats to transport stuff from the mines?" Jay looked to the dwarf kids around him.

"Not that I know of." Daisy shook her head.

"I don't know, but it looks like it's been here for years." Don kicked side of the boat.

Just then a sharp whistle called the group's attention away from the rotten craft.

"Hey, guys! We check out what we found!" Syngine yelled from a ways down the river.

"We know why we're not supposed to be here!" Hayden shouted too.

Greg raised a suspicious eyebrow. There was something in the two reckless dwarves' voices that didn't sound right. The others seemed to pick up on it too and had wary expressions. They got up and started toward the boys. Daisy thought she heard fear or dread in her cousins' tones. Either one was not good.

Syngine and Hayden were standing at the top of a hill of boulders. Greg, Don, Shawn, and Bryce quickly climbed the rocks to join them. The dwarf boys froze as soon as they saw the view in front of them. Daisy was having trouble climbing with her injured shoulder and Evie was just not a good climber so Doug and Jay were helping the girls, and none of them noticed the dwarves' initial reactions.

"Woah..." Mal uttered when she saw what had stunned the boys.

"What is it, Mal?" Carlos question as he hopped on to the final boulder. "Oh... That's what it is..."

Terror filled Daisy's eyes as Jay pulled her to the top and she spotted the building. Evie must have gone pale when she set eyes on the infamous structure.

It was almost completely concealed by the overgrowth of the forest. Ivy vines scaled the cracked stone walls. The outer gardens had grown out of control from not being tended to in years. Twenty-one years to be exact. Even after all that time, it still stood tall and solemn.

The castle many had thought was locked away with its owner.

The castle of the Evil Queen.

 **A/N what are the dwarves and the Core Four going to do now? Seriously tho. What? It's 2 A.M. and I've exhausted myself into brain death. I nedd ideas here. 1 of 3 chapters that I want to have done before the new year up. Now I just need to figure out the other two :P**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N if you've read the book "Isle of the Lost", then you know that when the villains were sent to the island a lot of their stuff came with them: spell books, cars, clothes, even their houses in some cases. All of it was put under the magical barrier so no one would come along and try to use the dark magic to the next villain. No one knew the Evil Queen's castle was here, except the dwarves apparently, that's why it was just left and nothing was done to it.**

Evie felt like she was going to pass out. She gripped Doug's hand so she might not fall if she did black out.

Why was her mother's castle here? It was on the Isle of the Lost. She had lived in the drafty, old fortress for 16 years. Was the place she called home for so long not real? Or at least not the real thing? This was so confusing.

She glanced at her friends and each of the dwarf kids. Carlos looked afraid and was shifting uncomfortably. Mal seemed lost in thought or caught in a flashback. Jay tried to stay stoic and calm as a trembling Daisy stood beside him. Doug's face was unreadable, but Evie knew his mind was racing with stories of her mother. Shawn and Don were prepared to run in the opposite direction. Bryce was still frozen solid. Greg glared angrily at the castle. The scariest expressions were Syngine's and Hayden's: they were smiling.

"L-let's go." Shawn stuttered, turning to leave.

"Alright! Come on!" Syngine jumped off the boulders and started running... toward the castle.

The rest of the group broke out in confusion and shock when they saw him take off. Hayden began down the rocks as well until Don grabbed his arm.

"Woah, woah, woah! What do you two think you're doing?"

"Going to explore the castle." Hayden said so nonchalantly.

"Weren't you the one who said if we saw anything dangerous we would turn around and leave?" Shawn pointed out.

"What's so dangerous about an old castle?" Syngine drawled with an annoyed eye roll.

"As someone who has been in a villain's old castle and was nearly killed by the booby traps that were inside, I don't recommend going in there." Mal advised, remembering all too well the mission to her mother's evil fortress when she and her siblings were still on the island.

"Besides, dumbass, that's _Grimhilde's_ castle. AKA the **_Evil Queen_**!" Greg gruffly informed the younger boy. "The witch who tried to kill our dads and Snow White. That chick's mom." He thumbed over his shoulder to Evie.

All the color drained from Evie's face when the dwarf boys looked back at her. Mal and Jay narrowed their eyes at the oldest dwarf. Carlos frowned. Daisy reached over and took Evie's hand as Doug stepped in front of his girlfriend protectively.

"Greg..." He warned.

"Simmer down. I'm just stating facts." Greg sneered.

"But Greg does have a point. Evie is the daughter of the Evil Queen." Hayden grinned.

"Excuse you?" Mal snapped at the boy. Was he insinuating that Evie was going to try to kill them like her mother or something?

Hayden must have understood how Mal took his words because he started backtracking. "I mean that Evie would know what to look out for. She could give us a tour of the place. Then we wouldn't have to worry about getting into any trouble." He reasoned.

"Exactly. So we're totally safe!" Syngine smiled.

Bryce looked at Hayden and Syngine like they were crazy, which they pretty much were. "I don't care if the Evil Queen's daughter is leading the way. If _Maleficent's_ daughter says it's a bad idea to go in there, I'm not going in there!"

Don and Shawn nodded in agreement. Hayden deflated, knowing majority ruled so he wouldn't get to explore the castle. Syngine was more stubborn than that and wasn't giving up.

"What do you say, Daisy?" Syngine addressed the youngest of the group.

Daisy stiffened.

"Don't you wanna know what it's look inside? You've been everywhere in these mountains, except here. You've got to be curious. Let's go check it out." Syngine insisted.

Daisy took a shaky breath. Of course she was curious. Who wouldn't be? That wasn't the point. It was a bad idea, and that's all there was to it. There could be dark magic protecting the castle. Wild animals could be living in it since it's abandoned. It shouldn't matter how cool it would be to see where a real villain lived. The danger was too great. Right? Then again twenty-one years is a long time. Maybe any spells or enchantments had worn off by now. Plus if the castle was the only reason the southern valley was off limits, Daisy could explore all of Dwarf Mountain if the castle is harmless. That would be awesome. To say she had actually been everywhere in the mountains. But what if the castle wasn't safe?

"Come on, wildflower. I know you wanna see it. Don't try to deny it." Syngine continued. "What is it? Are you scared? Are you afraid of getting hurt?"

The dwarf girl couldn't think straight. Her mind was taking over. She felt her throat constricting as she struggled to breathe normally. Daisy began shaking again and the world around her seemed to sway back and forth. She took an unsteady step back. As soon as she did, someone took her by the arm.

The hand was extremely strong yet remarkably gentle. The person's touch was warm and comforting. Daisy tensed at the initial contact but relaxed when the realization of what was happening hit. She completely calmed down after a moment.

Daisy placed her hand on the hand holding her arm. She followed the person's arm until she saw his face.

It was Jay.

Who it was shouldn't have surprised the girl, actually it didn't, but what he had just done did surprise her. Jay had stopped Daisy's panic attack. He soothed away her anxiety with just a touch. No one had ever done that before, not even Doug.

There was concern in the boy's eyes as he looked at her, but also a tenderness Daisy had never seen before. From anyone. Except maybe her parents and brother but still. This was different. With Jay, it was different. With Jay, everything was different. Daisy was different with Jay.

She continued to gaze up at him, entranced by that tenderness in his deep brown eyes.

"No." Daisy finally muttered. She managed to break her attention away from Jay to look at her cousin. "I'm not afraid of anything." The words were soft and sincere.

Syngine and Hayden smiled happily. Doug's jaw dropped, along with the remaining dwarf boys.

"Alright to compromise here a little bit, we'll only stay inside for ten or fifteen minutes. When time is up, we leave without any arguments." Hayden bargained.

With groans and several forms of "I'm gonna regret this", the entire group walked toward the ominous castle.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N so I didn't get three chapters in before the end of 2015. I got busy. Sorry! but anyway, this is the longest story I have ever written in my life! I looked at my story stats and Journey To Dwarf Mountain is over 20 thousand words! That is insane. I didn't even realize I had written that much. Wow. With 70 reviews and 40+ favorites and 55+ followers. Thanks guys! It's those reviews, favorites, and followers that encourage me to keep writing, along with some friends that I've made here on FanFic. You all are AWESOME! :D**

"Okay, smart guy, how do we even get in this place?" Shawn asked Syngine when they reached the way of the castle.

"That is an excellent question." Syngine chuckled. He scanned the exterior in search of any possible entryways. "Umm... Let's try... Over there!" He pointed.

Everyone looked in the direction Syngine was pointing. They noticed that the river seemed to run into the castle. Literally. The vines growing on the castle wall were covering the entrance to a cave, which the river was flowing into. Greg pulled back the vines for the group to carefully walk in on the bank.

"I would just like to point out that this is how horror movies start." Shawn announced as he entered the dark cave.

"We can't even see where we'd going. It's too dark in here." Bryce complained.

"Mal, think you could help with that?" Carlos cued over his shoulder.

"Sorry. I don't have my spell book." The purple-haired girl informed him as she dragged her hand along the wall for stability.

Greg scoffed from behind her. "You still need a spell book? That's pretty pathetic."

Mal suppressed a growl. No one called her pathetic. However, the oldest dwarf believed she and her siblings were still evil, so she resisted retaliating to keep from add to his case. Her eyes were glowing green from anger. At least the fairy could see now because of the magic.

"If you can do better, Greg, feel free to demonstrate." Daisy snipped a bit at her cousin. She was really getting tired of the way he treated her friends.

"Fine." Greg grumbled. " _This place is as dark as_ _night. Show us the way with a little light._ "

The words echoed through the cave. After a moment, crystal fragments embedded in the walls and ceiling began to glow, illuminating the entire cave.

Evie's and Mal's jaws dropped. They, along with Jay and Carlos, turned to gawk at the boy who just preformed magic.

"How did you-?"

"When did you-?"

"What?"

"How?" The four stumbled over their words from shock.

The dwarves snickered at their reactions.

Greg smirked. "What? Did Doug and Daisy not tell you I have magic?"

The four Isle teens shook their heads, no. Evie spun around to Doug for an explanation. Did all the dwarves have magic?

"Aunt Nova is a fairy, which makes Greg half fairy. So he can use magic." Doug clarified.

"Grumpy married a fairy?" Carlos asked, surprised.

"He had to. No mere mortal can handle Grumpy." Syngine teased with his "hero" voice.

The group laughed at that. They continued deeper into the cave. The natural stone walls became man-made brick walls. Old torch holders were mounted to the bricks. Years ago those torches would have lit the cavern instead of an illumination spell. Finally the narrow river back the teens had been treading softly on widened to a platform. Stairs lead from the platform up to the castle. Huge cobwebs and dust decorated the stairwell. There was also a dungeon cell at the back of the platform before going up the stairs. The entire area reeked of mold and mildew.

"I guess this was the dungeon..." Don observed.

"Come on! Let's go upstairs. We're actually in the castle now!" Hayden urged, pushing Syngine toward the steps.

"Fifteen minutes maximum, you two. No more than that!" Bryce reminded as he followed the reckless boys.

"We know!"

The rest of the group started up the steps. Shawn hesitated in front of the cell. His eye bugged out in horror.

"G-g-g-guys..." he stuttered.

No one noticed Sleepy's son.

"Guys!" Shawn basically shrieked.

Carlos and Evie jumped at the high-pitched call. Mal brought her fists in front of her, ready to fight. Jay reflexively pushed Daisy behind him to guard her. Daisy placed her hand on Jay's shoulder. Doug turned to his slightly younger cousin.

"Shawn, what's wrong?" Doug asked.

The terrified dwarf raised a trembling arm to point to the inside of the dungeon cell. Doug stepped down to be beside Shawn. Evie watched her boyfriend pale at the sight before him. She moved so she could see what had frightened the boys. Carlos, Mal, Jay, and Daisy did the same.

"I knew Grimhilde was harsh on criminals in her kingdom, but I thought only Snow White got the death penalty." Mal gulped.

Skeletal remains lay scattered across the floor of the cell. Most of the bones had crumbled to dust by now, but there was enough left to tell a person had been thrown in and never dragged out.

"I'm done. I want out of here." Carlos squeaked.

"We can't leave without the boys. No one left alone. That's our rule, and they're not leaving until the fifteen minute are up." Daisy stated calmly, surprisingly the shock of seeing a human skeleton left her numb instead of freaking out.

"Great..." Jay groaned.

"Come on... L-let's catch up to the guys." Shawn shot up the stairs.

Daisy, Jay, Mal, and Carlos followed Shawn up the steps. Doug started to begin the climb as well. Then he realized that Evie hadn't budged from her spot in front of the cell.

"Evie?"

She didn't respond. He moved beside her.

"Evie? Are you alright?" Doug asked and gently took her hand.

The bluenette looked at her boyfriend. Distressed brown eyes stared deeply into concerned green eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine." Evie's voice shook as she tried to pull off the lie.

Doug didn't fall for it. "E, if you don't want to be here, I will _make_ them leave." He insisted

She shook her head. "No. It's just... hard... I know my mother is evil, but this..." Evie gestured to the bones. "This isn't who she is. She wouldn't kill, Doug. Honest. Snow White was like the farthest extreme she had ever reached. She's not a killer, not truly. I swear it." The girl pleaded, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

The dwarf wiped away the stray tear and held the princess's face. "I believe you. And even if she was, that wouldn't change a thing. I would still love you. You've seen how crazy my family is. We're not our parents, and we know our parents are different from what the world sees them as." Doug assured her.

Evie nodded. She knew he was right as always.

"I love you, Evelyn Royal, with all my heart. And nothing in this creepy old castle is going to change that." He looked around at all the cobwebs and made a weird face, causing Evie to giggle.

She leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on his lips. "And I love you, Douglas Dwarfson, with all my heart. And there is nothing those goof balls can say or do to change that." She smiled.

"Good." Doug said with a relieved chuckle, "because they have been saying and doing a _lot_ of stupid stuff. Case and point, look what they've gotten us into now."

Evie laughed at that. "How about we go make sure they don't do anything else stupid while they're in here?"

"Agreed."

 **A/N alright guys I'm going to need your help again. In a later chapter, the Core Four and the dwarf kids will be going to a music festival in Jewel Town. I think a mentioned that in an earlier chapter. BUT I need some songs for that/those chapter(s). I may put the whole song in for the group to listen or dance to, I may put in certain lyrics, or I may just mention the song title. The point is I need song ideas. I'm DEFINITELY going to need a slow song or a song that two people can kinda slow dance to. I love songs with meaning behind them so if you can think of any that really capture what's happening in the story in some way that would be AWESOME! Give me your songs in the reviews or PM me. THANKS GUYS! :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N This chapter is ridiculously long to hopefully make up the long break. Also don't hate me but I can't promise a speedy update. I'll try but no promises. Remember guys that you can send in song ideas for the music festival up until I actually upload that chapter, which is going to be a while. Like 5 or 6 chapters depending on how the ones in between turn out. You don't have to send in just slow songs. It's a festival. A concert. Tell me some of your favorite songs to jam out to: well known or not. Even if I don't use them in the story, I would love to listen to them :) PS. I suck at coming up with good rhymes so I apologize in advance :P**

"Push!" Syngine grunted.

"We're trying!" Hayden groaned.

"This thing isn't budging an inch!" Don huffed.

The dwarf boys had reached the top of the stairs to find a solid wood door. Even after twenty years, the door hadn't decayed in the slightest. Syngine, Hayden, and Don tried opening it to no avail. It was locked and not breaking anytime soon.

"What's with the road block?" Shawn asked when he, Daisy, Doug, and the Core Four caught up to the boys. "Let's get in, look around, and get out."

"We can't get in. The stupid door won't open." Bryce explained.

"Stand back. I'm going to try something." Greg stepped down a few stairs and crouched to run at the door.

Mal got a very evil glint in her eye when she saw this. She might need her spell book to cast most of her spells, but she didn't need it in the current situation. The ex-villain knew the exact spell she needed right now by heart.

The large boy charged forward with a fiery yell. " _Make it easy. Make it quick. Open up without a kick."_ Mal quickly recited.

The stubborn door flew with a rusty creak. Greg tumbled through entryway and bit the dust. Literally. When Greg landed, a grey cloud of dust was kicked up.

The mischievous smile gracing the purple-haired fairy's features could have lit up the entire castle. Such a petty trick was unbecoming of someone trying to prove she was good, but Mal was just following the Golden Rule: _do unto others as they have done to you_ or something like that. Point being, Greg has been a jerk to her and her siblings since they arrived on Dwarf Mountain so he deserved it. Besides the other dwarves were entertained by the harmless prank.

Syngine and Hayden were falling over each other cackling. Daisy slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Don winced at his cousin's impact with the cobblestone floor. Doug pursed his lips to hide a smile. Bryce proudly smirked while Shawn snickered from behind him.

Evie's jaw dropped from shock, she couldn't believe what just happened. Carlos nearly bit his tongue in two trying to keep quiet, his shoulders shook with silence laughter. Jay grimaced slightly, feeling a little sympathetic as someone who's fallen for Mal's setup before.

Greg spit to get the dirt and dust out of his mouth. He glared over his shoulder at the other half-fairy. She paid him no mind as she stepped into the new room.

Bryce and Shawn walked around their cousin to serve the area. Daisy strolled in behind the two boys, curiosity overruling the "wait until we know it's totally safe" rule. She stopped beside the fallen dwarf. Her wide eyes scanned the many books, beakers, flasks, and test tubes in the old laboratory, but Greg's narrowed eyes were fixed on Mal.

"Witch." Grumpy's son grumbled.

The word seemed to echo against the cold stone. An eerie silence consumed the group.

Mal had frozen in her tracks. The dwarf boys glanced warily toward her. Evie squeezed Doug's hand. Carlos and Jay held their breath.

Daisy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She set a swift kick into the oldest dwarf's ribs. The boy choked out a sound of pain as all the air left his chest.

Bryce was the first to react, grabbing the petite girl and pulling her away from the large boy. "Woah, Daisy! Easy!"

"I have HAD IT with you!" Daisy screamed down at Greg, unfallen tears burning her eyes. She yanked her shoulders free from Bryce's grasp and ran across the room and up the spiral staircase.

"Daz!" Jay called after her.

Doug didn't even have to look back at Jay know they were thinking the same thing. The two boys started after the upset girl with Evie, Mal, and Carlos following suit.

"Get your ass up, man." Bryce shot to Greg, who was still lying on his back on the floor.

Syngine and Hayden helped the oldest boy to his feet. Don suggested they all stay back for a few minutes. Syngine opened his mouth to protest, seeing as he only had 10 minutes to explore, but the hostile looks he received from Shawn and Bryce made him snap his trap shut.

* * *

The five friends made it to the top of the stairs and stepped through an archway to the heart of the castle. Large stained glass windows with missing panels allowed the evening light to flood the room. Grand portraits hung crooked along the walls. Intricate tapestries draped hazardously from the ceiling. A once golden throne overlooked the audience hall from atop its pedestal. On the steps of the was a timeworn velvet carpet and a small teen with her head on her knees.

Doug rushed over to his sister and wrapped his arms around her. "Daz, don't run off like that." His scolding words were doused with relief. The boy hated to admit that he was psyching himself out with possible dangers that could be around every corner of the Evil Queen's castle, but he couldn't help it. Daisy's safety had always been his top priority, even since she was born.

Evie sat down to the girl's right since Doug was on her left. Jay kneeled in front of Daisy while Mal and Carlos stood on either side of him.

"Daz?" Evie gently whispered. "Are you alright?"

Daisy rested her head on her brother's chest. She heaved a heavy sigh. "Yeah. I'm fine." Her voice sounded sincere, which set a chill up Jay's spine. Daisy's eyes were downcast so only he could see them. They were no longer brimming with tears or smoldering with anger, but their normal bright blue light hadn't returned.

Her eyes were dull and exhausted, Jay would even go as far as to say lifeless. He frowned deeply at that.

"I'm sorry, Mal. I don't know how to get through to Greg that you guys aren't evil." Daisy continued. "Regardless, he shouldn't have called you a witch."

"Eh, I kinda had it coming. I did cast the spell that, although indirectly, landed him on his ass." Mal shrugged with a smirk.

"It still wasn't right."

"Hey, we're big kids. We can take care of ourselves. No need for you to get so upset over us." Evie brushed some hair out of Daisy's face.

Daisy puffed out an airy laugh at the motherly touch. She felt like such a little kid when Evie did that, but she liked it at the same time. With a few blinks, her eyes refocused so she could look at her friends and brother. Her sight set on Carlos first. He was making a goofy face with his cheeks puffed out and eyes crossed. Daisy laughed wholeheartedly at the silly boy.

"That's better." Carlos grinned proudly at the sound of Daisy's laughter.

Jay smiled softly as light reentered Daisy's eyes. Mal's smile was slightly sad that Daisy got so worked up because of her. Doug tightly hugged his sister while Evie still played with Daisy's hair.

Footsteps caught the group's attention. They turned to see Syngine and the rest of the dwarf boys at the top of the stairs.

"I know we're the last people you wanna see right now, but I only have 5 minutes to check this place out. So ignore us." Syngine quickly rambled before scurrying around the throne room with Hayden right behind him.

Greg didn't even glance at the them. He walked with his head up inspecting the broken window. Don stayed at the larger dwarf's side, being sure to stand between Greg and the Core Four. Doug would have to remember to thank Don for that later. Bryce and Shawn joined the group around their youngest cousin.

"Are you okay, Daisy?" Shawn asked.

She nodded, yes.

Bryce looked over his shoulder. Then he crouched down and whispered, "That was a really good kick. Personally I would have aimed for his thick head. It wouldn't have hurt anything."

Doug and Carlos snickered at that. Shawn nearly fell back trying not to laugh too loudly. Daisy and Evie giggled while Mal and Jay smirked.

Bryce winked at Daisy and stood up straight. He gave Mal a reassuring pat on the back before walking over to where Syngine and Hayden were tugging on one of the tapestries.

"What are you two idiots doing?"

"There's something behind here." Hayden explained as he strained to move the giant clothe.

Everyone turned to the two boys. They pulled with all their might, but the tapestry was not coming down. Evie scanned the design on the fabric. It was royal blue velvet with golden stars. She had seen it before. Back on the Isle of the Lost. In her old home. But she couldn't place where it belonged in the copycat castle.

"I think we got it!"Syngine cheered.

With one final heave, the tapestry was ripped free from the wall. The boys run backwards to keep from being crushed by the heavy material. When the object on the wall was revealed, Evie instantly remembered where she'd seen the fabric. It was in the form on curtains in her mother's room. Over her vanity.

"Woah..." Hayden gasped.

"Magic mirror..." Bryce breathed.

Embedded in the wall was a golden frame, decorated with coiled snakes, jewels, and a crown at the top. The mirror itself was cracked, broken into several pieced with a single shard missing. Even in its degraded state, it was undoubtedly Grimhilde's Magic Mirror.

"Sweet!" Syngine chirped like a song bird. "I dare somebody to reach up and touch it."

Mal raised an eyebrow at the boy. He was joking, right? That mirror was an ancient magical artifact that a lot of villains would kill to get your hands on, not a dead animal on the side of the road. It maybe be broken, but if Evie's little piece worked, than so did the rest of it.

"It's not dangerous. Is it?" Doug looked to Evie, who shook her head no.

"It shouldn't be. All it does is answer questions, reveal truths, and tell prophecies." The bluenette announced.

Hayden chuckled. "So it's like a magical Siri."

"Come on. Who's going to take the dare?" Syngine looked to each of the other teens. No one moved. Syngine checked the time. "We have two minutes then we can leave. If somebody touches the stupid mirror, we can leave right now." He bargained.

Shawn jumped up and ran to the mirror. He wanted out of this place ASAP. He tagged one of the gems on the frame and hurried back to his spot beside Carlos and Doug. "There! I t-touched it. L-let's go!" Shawn was shaking with fear.

Everyone but Syngine, Hayden, and Greg clapped for Sleepy's son. He blushed at the applause. Greg rolled his eyes, and Hayden pouted a bit.

"A deal's a deal." Syngine sighed.

Evie, Daisy, and Doug stood up as the others started for the archway they entered through. Shawn and Carlos were happily leading the way out. Then a shadow flew over the group. They stopped and looked around in confusion. Suddenly the blue velvet tapestry that Syngine and Hayden pulled down covered the exit.

All the teens recoiled. Carlos and Shawn clung to each other, screaming in terror. Don, Syngine, Hayden, and Bryce hit the deck while Greg and Mal stood ready to fight. Doug wrapped his arm around Evie protectively, and Jay jumped in front of Daisy.

"What the hell?" Greg tried to yank the tapestry away from the door but it was sealed.

 _"Was my slumber truly disturbed by ignorant adolescents?"_

"Oh shit..." Hayden squeaked.

"Shawn did it." Syngine whimpered.

"If we make it out of here alive, you two are dead." Greg glared at the two reasons they were all in this situation.

The group slowly turned around to see the Magic Mirror's reflective surface filling with smoke. A floating green mask appeared in the broken glass. The mask seemed to look over the shaken teens.

 _"Step forward. The one with daring inner power, but seems as delicate as a flower."_ The mirror beckoned.

The teens exchanged lost expressions.

"Who does he want?" Don asked.

"Shawn wake him up. It's probably him." Bryce guessed.

"HUH?!"

"No, it's not Shawn." Doug said warily. "'delicate as a flower' I think that's supposed to be Daisy."

"Great..." The small girl groaned.

"Why the hell does he want Daisy?" Jay scowled at the Magic Mirror.

 _"Be wise with your tone."_ it warned. _"I forewarn of an event that could end in the mourning of one your own."_

A eerie chill swept over them all. Evie lost all her color. She tightened her grip on her boyfriend's hand.

Daisy emerged from behind Jay. "I'd say that's enough reason to listen to him." She gulped. She crossed the room to stand in front of the magical object. The mask stared down at the girl, making her squirm uncomfortably.

 _"Heed my words. They will be uttered but once."_ Daisy nodded. Smoke and fire swirled around the mask as he began to speak. _"Be wary of the past for history will repeat. When lost in inner darkness, to restore the light, follow love's hidden heartbeat."_

The girl's brow furrowed. What did all that mean? And how was in going to help save one of them? Daisy's eyes widen as the fire and smoke consumed the face of the mirror. The glass shattered into millions of tiny pieces.

"Get down!" Someone yelled.

The mirror exploded, sending the glass flying out toward Daisy in a cloud of sparkly dust. The dwarf girl couldn't even scream.

Her breath stilled.

Her blood froze.

Her eyes closed.

She fell to the floor.

Cold and pale.

.

.

.

"DAISY!?"


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N *slowly slides out of hobbit hole* I'm sorry. I will try to do better. This is my peace offering. Please don't hurt me. *sets chapter down and retreats to the darkness***

 _"Would you slow down?"_

 _"No, you speed up." A girl giggles, easily climbing over fallen rocks._

 _"It's dangerous down here, especially now. You don't need to be running off!"_

 _"Stop being such a worry wort, Doug." The girl spins around to watch her brother carefully step through the old mine shaft. She finds it so annoying when he acts like she can't handle herself._

 _The boy looks up at the ceiling that now has cracks streaking across it. "Dad doesn't know we're down here. No one does. How can I not worry, Daz?" Doug raises a questioning eyebrow at his sister. "The old mines were off limits for a reason, Daisy. Now we can't get out of here."_

 _Daisy rolls her eyes. "We just can't leave the way we came. It's not like we're trapped down here. Come on, Doug. We're been playing in the mines since we were big enough to walk so quit being a scaredy cat." She states confidently and hops up on the rail of the old train tracks, holding her arms out to keep balance as she walks._

 _"I'm being a 'scaredy cat' because your curiosity landed us this far away from the crew." Doug steps up on the other rail. "And curiosity killed the cat." He reminds her._

 _With a grin, Daisy takes her brother's hand as they tread from one cliff side to the other. She glances at the good twenty feet drop from the suspended train track to the ground below. "Then it's a good thing cats have nine lives." She winks and receives an eye roll. "Just because you're a big bad teenager now, doesn't mean you know everything, Doug."_

 _"I know more than you, Little Miss Eleven." He teases, sticking his tongue out and jumping onto solid ground._

 _"If we climb down that ladder to the lower levels, we can follow the tunnels under the blockage and back to the current dig." Daisy points to a wooden access ladder._

 _She runs over to slide down, but Doug grabs her arm to stop her. "Big brother." He taps his chest. "Supposed to be looking out for little sister." He pokes her nose, making Daisy purse her lips to fight a smile and narrow her eyes to threaten the boy. "I go first to be sure it's safe." Doug puffs his chest out like a superhero._

 _The thirteen year old starts down the shabby ladder. Daisy is seated cross-legged on the edge of the upper shaft. "I don't get why these tunnels are off limits. They're no different than the rest of the mine, just older. It's actually a lot cooler here." The girl thinks aloud._

 _Doug stops halfway down the ladder to look up at his sister. "Well since this area is so old, the equipment is old too. It's not up to safety standards. These tunnels are about fifteen years old. Anything in here can break at any second."_

 _As if on cue, the rotten wood gives and the ladder collapses. Doug screams and falls to the ground with a thud. Daisy gasps and lies on her stomach to lean over the edge to look down at her brother. The boy is face down in the dirt, a small dust cloud hovering around him._

 _"Like that?" She chuckles a bit at first. "Are you okay, Doug?"_

 _The boy doesn't answer. Her playful smile falters._

 _"Alright, Doug, I get it. It was stupid to come here_ _. You can cut the act now. Get up."_

 _He still doesn't move._

 _"Doug?... Come on... Wake up... This isn't funny! You can teach me a lesson later. Just answer me!" She begs._

 _Nothing._

 _Panic works its way into Daisy's heart. Tears collect in her eyes. "Doug!? Wake up! Wake up! I can't get to you from up here. You have to wake up."_

 _"Wake up!"_

 _"Talk to me!"_

 _"Wake up!"_

 _"WAKE UP!"_

 _. . . don't leave me . . ._

. . open your eyes . .

wake up

"Wake up!"

"Come on! Say something!"

"Wake up! Daisy!"

Evie watched helplessly as Doug shook his sister's shoulders for what felt like the millionth time. He hadn't stopped calling out to her since the dust of the obliterated Magic Mirror cleared. To their horror, Daisy was lying on the ground unconscious. The collective cries at the sight of the fallen girl were bone chilling.

Evie's mind raced to try to figure out what happened. The Magic Mirror was her mother's slave. It wasn't evil itself. This didn't make sense. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous. So why did it basically attack Daisy? What exactly did the mirror do to knock her out?

Don pressed his fingers on Daisy's wrist. He was silent for a moment before sucking in a ragged breath. His eyes watered as he looked to Doug and shook his head. Evie's heart shattered, but the sound of her boyfriend's gut-wrenching sob nearly brought her to her knees. The rest of the dwarf boys gathered around their cousin.

The bluenette started to go to Doug's side but reluctantly stepped back. The mirror might have caused this, but Greg would undoubtedly blame Evie. Guilt twisted in her chest. She should have known better than to let the dwarves come into her mother's castle. This basically was her fault. Evie buried her face in her trembling hands. She was the real reason this happened. She should have told everyone to leave when she had the chance. Daisy was gone because of her.

Someone pulled the grief-stricken princess into a close embrace. Evie recognized it as Mal by the way the other girl hid her face in Evie's shoulder, probably to conceal her own tears. It hadn't even dawned on Evie how her siblings were reacting.

Sobs and sniffles could be heard from everyone in the room, except one. Jay was silent. He had fallen to his knees and was staring blankly ahead. There were no tears in his eyes. No sadness. Nor anger. Not even confusion. There was nothing. The boy was numb. As lifeless as the girl on the floor in front of him.

A quivering Carlos placed a hand on his brother's shoulder but earned no response. Carlos was as white as a sheet. The only color to him was the redness in his eyes from crying. He blinked rapidly, trying to rid his vision of water. Realization shined in his brown orbs.

" _History will repeat"_ the De Vil boy looked to his sisters. "What if that means the history with the dwarves and the Evil Queen? What if Daisy isn't really dead? It's just the Sleeping Death curse! We just have to break the curse and she'll wake up!" A bright smile appeared as he shook Jay's shoulders urgently.

Mal and Evie released each other and glanced between Carlos and Daisy. Could it truly be that simple? Find someone who loves Daisy and have him kiss her. Love could be tricky though, especially when curses were involved.

"The c-curse can o-only be broken b-by love's first k-ki-kiss." The Evil Queen's daughter spoke through her tears, trying to breathe normally.

"Does Daisy have a boyfriend or anything?" Bryce asked.

Doug, Evie, and Mal shook their heads, no.

Carlos yanked Jay up to his feet. The smaller boy whispered something in his brother's ear. A mix of emotions flooded Jay's eyes. The most prominent were fear and uncertainty. Don noticed this.

Doc's son stood and took a deep breath. "Guys, let's go make sure the exit isn't sealed off." He motioned for his cousins to follow him.

"What?!" Greg roared. "Like hell am I leaving Daisy alone with them!" the oldest dwarf pointed to the Core Four.

"You have no say in anything that has to do with Daisy!" Doug shot at the large boy. His eyes blazed with frustration and heartbreak.

Greg visibly recoiled at that. He murmured, "What did I do?" Bryce shoved him toward the exit.

Once the boys had left, silence filled the castle. The four friends gathered around Daisy. Doug leaned on Evie who tried her best to reassure him that everything would be fine, even those she wasn't entirely sure herself.

Jay knelled beside the unresponsive girl on the ground. The dwarves had moved their youngest member so she was flat on her back with her hands resting on her chest like a corpse prepared for a funeral. It made Jay ill. Daisy looked dead. She was pale grey but the evening light filtering through the stain glass windows gave her some false color and made her shimmer. The boy tucked a stray lock of hair behind the girl's ear and shivered when he touched her icy skin.

"Go on, man." Carlos urged.

Jay hesitantly looked up at each of his friends. Carlos raised an expectant eyebrow and shot his glance down to Daisy. Mal bit her bottom lip impatiently. Evie held her breath. Doug's distraught eyes met Jay's, sending his friend a desperate plea to save his sister.

With a ragged breath and a silent prayer, Jay pressed his lips to Daisy's. It was hardly what Jay would call a kiss. Daisy's lips were like popsicles, cold and sharp as what felt like small ice shards pricked the sensitive skin of Jay's mouth. He was so confused by the sensation. Wasn't there supposed to be a spark or rush of magic as the curse broke?

Wasn't that how it happened for all the princes and princesses in Auradon?

Why wasn't Jay feeling that?

Jay loved Daisy, even if he had never admitted it out loud. He hated seeing her sad or hurt or scared. Her smile could light up a dark room. The sound of her laughter was music to his ears, let alone her angelic singing voice. Just seeing Daisy, saying her name, thinking about her, had Jay over the moon sometimes. It was describable. Jay was not a perfect person by any means, which some people felt compelled to remind him of often, but every bad thing that ever happened to him or that he had done himself didn't matter when Daisy was with him. This guarded dwarf girl made a street rat from the Isle happy enough to easily forget his painful past.

If this really was history repeating itself and Daisy truly was under the Sleeping Death curse, then why wasn't she waking up? Instead, Jay found himself feeling drowsy. The chill from Daisy's skin crawled through Jay's body. His lungs began to weaken as the air inside them refused to move.

Realization dawned in Jay's darkening eyes. He pushed himself backwards and spit on the ground, wiping his mouth rapidly.

Doug, Evie, Mal, and Carlos all jumped, startled by Jay's sudden actions. Mal held her brother's shoulders as he coughed and gasped for breath. "What the hell?"

"It didn't work?" a confused and defeated Carlos inquired.

"No." Jay choked out. "It's... It's not the... Sleeping Death. I-it's something else." He raised his hand to show the others what he had just removed from his lips. "I nearly got knocked out by it too."

"What is that?" Doug asked as Evie turned Jay's hand to examine the shiny substance.

The bluenette furrowed her brow. "It looks almost like glitter." Then her eyes widened and she gasped. "The mirror dust!" Evie turned to Daisy and tilted the girl's head slightly. "She's covered with it!"

"That must be what caused this. Daisy was the only one hit by that dust cloud when the Magic Mirror exploded! That's why she was unconscious and why Jay nearly dropped too after kissing her! The glass fibers mimic the effects of the Evil Queen's spell if they're allowed to enter the body. By way of the ears, eyes, nose, or mouth. Like a germ." Carlos reasoned.

"Which explains why no one else fell asleep after touching Daisy. The glass can't affect you through your hands." Mal continued.

"So we get rid of glass." Evie started.

"We wake up Daisy!" Doug and Jay finished in unison.

"You two stay here just to be safe." Mal told Doug and Evie. "Jay, Carlos, we're going to find stuff to clean up Daisy." With that, the three teens ran out of the throne room and down to Grimhilde's lab in search of supplies and the rest of the dwarves.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N what's up, guys? It has been a long time and I apologize for that. Senior year hit like a truck so that took up all my free time. I am graduated now so I'm going to try to get back to writing. Since it has been so long since the last time I wrote, I don't remember exactly where I was going with everything, so bare with me. I'm going to be making this up as I go again. Also to help with organization of all the teens, both for you guys and myself, I'm going to list the grades and ages of all my characters and the original descendants as well. So here they are from oldest to youngest.  
** **Greg- Senior, 19  
Don- Senior, 18  
Bryce- Senior, 18  
Jay- Junior, 18  
Syngine- Junior, 17  
Mal- Junior, 17  
Doug- Junior, 17  
Evie- Junior, 16  
Hayden- Junior, 16  
Carlos- Junior, 16  
Shawn- Sophomore, 15  
Daisy- Freshman, 15**

Carlos, Mal, and Jay raced down the stairs that led to the Evil Queen's lab. They knew how to wake Daisy up. She wasn't really dead, just asleep. The glass was keeping her unconscious. They just had to find a way to clean off the mirror dust.

"Come on, man. This is no time to be napping." Don's voice echoed from the room ahead.

Mal skidded to a stop just inside the lab. Carlos and Jay nearly collided with their sister. The boys were about to ask why the sudden halt when their eyes locked onto Shawn lying unconscious on the cold stone floor. Don was standing above Sleepy's son while Bryce lightly smacked the younger boy to try to wake him up.

"What happened?" Carlos knelt next to the knocked out dwarf, scanning him.

"We don't know. Bryce and I were looking through some of the books of spells and potions while Shawn sat on the ground. He was sniffling and then went quiet. When we turned around, he was asleep." Don explained.

"Wait a minute." Bryce looked up at the Isle kids in confusion and worry. "Where's Daisy and Doug and Evie?"

Jay frowned. "Daisy didn't wake up. Doug and Evie are still with her, watching over her."

The color drained from Don's face. The words seemed to take his breath away. Bryce's breath hitched in his throat as his eyes turned glossy.

"But we think we figured out a way to wake her up." Mal assured them.

"More accurately, we believe we figured out what put her to sleep." Carlos chimed in. "It's the same thing that put Shawn to sleep."

Bryce and Don stared at Carlos in complete bewilderment. The white-haired boy tilted Shawn's head so the powder around his eyes shimmered slightly in the low light. Confusion painted Bryce and Don's faces.

"It's fibers from the Magic Mirror. When they're allowed to enter the body, they mimic the effects of a sleeping curse." Carlos tried to explain. "Daisy was covered in the stuff from when the mirror exploded. You all must have gotten the powder on your hands when you touched her. Shawn probably rubbed his eyes and got mirror dust in his eye, which put him under the pseudo-sleeping curse."

"Ok, whatever. Science stuff. How do we wake them up?" Bryce urged.

"Wash off the powder." Mal smiled confidently. She grabbed some dusty old rags off of one of the lab table and ran down the stairs to the dungeon and the river.

Jay, Carlos, Bryce, and Don followed the purple haired girl down the stairs. When the group landed on the platform, they found Greg and Syngine hoisting a soaking wet Hayden out of the river.

"Do I want to know?" Don asked his cousins.

"I blacked out and fell in the river." Hayden answered groggily.

Mal leaned over the edge of the platform to wet the rags in the river. "Did you rub your eyes or wipe your nose before you blacked out?"

Hayden's brow furrowed in concentration. "Yeah... I think... My nose itched so I ran my hand over it. Then the next thing I know, I'm under the water."

Hope shined in Jay's eyes. He playfully punched a grinning Carlos. "That means our guess was right. The glass stuff is causing this and washing it off fixes everything."

"What are you blabbering about?" Greg raised an eyebrow at Jay.

"It doesn't matter. Just wash your hands in the river." Don instructed as he and Bryce walked to the river to wash their own hands.

After everyone had cleaned their arms, the teens headed back up the stairs to wake up Shawn and Daisy. Carlos, however, paused in front of the dungeon cell. An old empty water pitcher was lying against of the bars. He grabbed the pitcher and scooped up as much water as it would hold. Carlos decided that it may make things easier.

* * *

The Core Four and the seven dwarf boys gathered around their youngest friend. Shawn had been snapped out of his sleep by one wipe of the wet rag. Daisy, on the other hand, was proving to be more difficult to free from her slumber. The glass fibers were not coming off very well. Since the cloud had completely engulfed Daisy after the Magic Mirror disintegrated, the poor girl was covered in a rather thick layer of mirror dust. It was as if someone had thrown an entire container of glitter on her.

"Why isn't it working? You said it would work!" Greg basically growled.

"If it worked on me, then it WILL work on Daisy." Shawn insisted.

Mal and Evie had cleaned off most of the substance, but they couldn't get all the tiny pieces that couldn't be seen in fading evening light.

Doug's shoulders slumped. "What now?" His voice was weak and pitiful.

"I got this!" Carlos claimed and held up his pitcher of water.

Bryce gave him a questioning glance. "What are you planning to do with that?"

Carlos didn't answer. He reared back and threw the water, sending it splashing down on Daisy. The teens around her jumped back, astonished by Carlos's action.

"What the hell, man?" Syngine stood up.

Everyone stared at the De Vil boy like he had lost his mind. His exhilarated smile faltered when the sleeping girl remained completely still. Carlos racked his brain to figure out why nothing was happening. Throwing water on Daisy should have washed away the rest of the mirror dust. That was the plan. It should have worked. Shouldn't it? It played out well in Carlos's head.

Evie read her younger brother's deflated expression. "Nice try, Carlos." She attempted to sound sincere, but disappointment and hopeless edged their way into her voice.

Mal frowned. That must have been Carlos's hail Mary idea. Jay dropped his head into his hands. What were they supposed to do now? Fresh tears slid down Doug's cheeks. He had lost his sister forever, and there was nothing he could have done for her. The dwarf boys bowed their heads.

The room was dead silent. The sun had sunk below the mountain peaks around the castle, taking its light and warmth with it. A chill filled the stone fortress, causing everyone to shiver.

Everyone.

Doug's eyes widen as Daisy's teeth began to chatter from the cold.

"Daz?" His voice was barely audible. He cupped Daisy's cheek in his hand. Her skin was still ice, but Doug watched in amazement as color returned to his little sister's face.

With another shiver and a shaky breath, Daisy began to shift from her position on her back. She rolled onto her side and curled into a ball, trying to get warm. No one else moved. The teens were in shock. They could only stare as the small girl nuzzled Doug's hand and heaved a content sigh. Finally her baby blue eyes fluttered open.

Daisy was awake.

 **A/N it's 3 A.M. so I'm gonna say that's good. Tell me what you think! I love reading reviews. Don't forget to follow this story so you won't miss the next time I post a chapter (which will hopefully be a few days this time instead of a few months) Sorry again for the wait.**


	20. Chapter 20

The room remained still. Daisy's baby blue eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, meeting every pair of stunned eyes that were locked on her.

"What's going on?" Her voice slightly groggy. Pinpricks scurried across every inch of her skin and a shiver crawled up the girl's back. "Why am I soaking wet?" Daisy asked as she rubbed her arms to fight off the chills.

"IT WORKED!" Carlos cheered at the top of his lungs, causing the others to jump.

Syngine and Hayden whooped and hollered along with the De Vil boy. Relieved sighs slid from the lips of Mal, Don, Greg, and Bryce. Joyous smiles split Evie and Jay's faces in two. Happy tears streamed down Shawn's face faster than he could wipe them away.

"Daz!" Doug wrapped his arms around his baby sister as tightly as he could. He wasn't sure whether to cry or cheer. Relief washed over his body and threatened to sap away his strength. However, the dwarf refused to slacken his grip on the younger girl, even drawing her closer to him.

Though still clueless as to what was happening, Daisy gladly welcomed her big brother's embrace, sinking deeper into his warm chest. His heartbeat was rapid and his breathing was erratic. Daisy listened as they slowly returned to normal patterns.

Dopey's children were nearly knocked over by the rest of the dwarf kids bear hugging them. The group hug was making Daisy feel a little claustrophobic, but she appreciated the extra body heat. Her wet clothes and the cold stone floor were chilling Daisy to the bone.

She glanced over her brother's arm at her friends. Carlos was still celebrating his apparent success with a victory dance while Mal seemed to be gathering herself as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Had Mal been crying? Evie certainly had; her mascara and eyeliner had run halfway down her cheeks. The bluenette wore an elated smile despite her ruined make up. Jay stared at the dwarf girl with glossy brown eyes before bowing his head and uttering a combination of a chuckle and a gasp. What happened to get everyone so worked up?

"Guys?" Daisy squeaked from the bottom of the unintentional dog-pile. "Could I have some room to breath?"

"Oh!" Don gasped. "Back off, guys! We shouldn't be crowding her."

The dwarf boys broke away from the group hug, muttering apologizes. Daisy raised herself up to her knees shakily. Doug, who had already been on his knees, helped steady his sister. He never let his hand leave her shoulder.

"We're just really glad you're okay." Shawn smiled. The rest of the teens nodded in agreement.

Daisy gave her cousin an utterly confused look. "'Glad you're okay'? What are you talking about? Did I fall in the river or something?" She motioned to damp outfit.

"Daz, do... do you not remember what just happened?" Evie hesitantly asked. Her eyes drifted to the other side of the room for a moment.

The younger girl shook her head and then followed Evie's gaze. Daisy's eyes widened. The magic mirror was gone! Nothing left of the magical artifact except the frame that had held it. Where did it go? Was that why everyone was acting so strange?

Doug took a deep breath and began to explain the past thirty minutes when he saw how bewildered his sister was becoming. Daisy hung on his every word. Somber understanding fell on her shoulders as her big brother struggled to retell the event with an steady voice. "We thought... I thought... we lost you..." Doug hesitantly finished.

Daisy buried herself in Doug's chest, hugging the boy tightly. Normally Daisy was the one clinging to Doug for reassurance, but it was actually Doug gripping Daisy's shoulders to try to put his fears to rest. His sister was fine. She was safe and healthy. Nothing and no one was going to take her away from him. She was his baby sister, and he was her big brother. Doug's job was to protect Daisy. He hadn't been doing the best job at that lately. That was changing. Now.

"Can we please get out of here now?" Shawn spoke up.

The group didn't hesitate to agree. Greg, Syngine, and Hayden began to lead the pack toward the exit. Shawn wasn't far behind them. Bryce and Don stayed back to make sure Daisy was able to walk. Daisy assured them she was fine but leaded on Doug regardless. Evie, Jay, Carlos, and Mal remained close to their friends.

Evie slid her arm through Daisy's and gave the smaller girl a gentle squeeze. "I'm so relieved you're awake."

"You seriously scared us, Daz." Jay rather shyly admitted.

Daisy smiled sweetly at her friends. Then a playful grin graced her lips. "I must be big time bad if I can scare VKs." She teased.

Mal chuckled at that. "Oh you're the worst alright." Mal smirked, returning the dwarf's sarcasm.

Carlos and Daisy giggled in response. Evie just smiled while Doug and Jay shook their heads.

* * *

By the time the teens returned home, it was long after dark. They stepped out of the trees into Dopey's backyard to find Dopey and Abigail sitting on their back porch waiting for them.

"Where have you all been?" Abigail shot out before any of the teens could speak. The woman crossed her arms and glared at the children in front of her. "And why are some of you dripping wet?"

Syngine and Hayden stepped back, letting the oldest boys held this. Greg and Don exchanged guilty expressions before looking back to Bryce. The Scottish dwarf shrugged at his cousins. Shawn hid behind Doug and Daisy, who tried to avoid their mother's eyes. Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos stood back, silent and slightly confused.

"Well?" Abigail insisted, narrowing her green eyes.

"We... were being stupid..." Doug muttered.

Abigail did not seem to like that answer. She stepped forward and prepared to give the group an earful. The dwarf boys winced in anticipation of the lecture they were about to receive.

Daisy quickly looked to her father and signed **May we please talk about this later?** Her baby blue eyes begged him.

Dopey nodded and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Go home, boys. Get dried off and warmed up. Your parents can handle your punishment." Dopey dismissed his nephews, much to Abigail's protest.

The boys left without a word, leaving Doug, Daisy, and the Core Four to the wrath of Abigail Dwarfson. One would think a person who was raised by villains and has faced the Mistress of Evil in her most powerful form wouldn't be easily rattled. Yet, Evie still finds herself unnerved by Doug and Daisy's mother. Carlos had slid slightly behind Jay, who remained stoic. Mal seemed more impressed than nervous.

The older woman took a deep breath. "Head inside." She said calmly. "Daisy, change out of those clothes. I want all of you to have a seat in the living room. You're telling us what doing that was so stupid that you were late coming home."

"Yes, ma'am." The teens chorused.

 **A/N looks like Fairy God Mother isn't the only one strict on curfew. Everyone is home safe. For the most part. Let me know what you guys think their punishment will be in the reviews. I probably could have done a better job at everyone's reaction to Daisy waking up, but I feel like I repeat myself a million times and that gets boring. If you enjoy this story, please follow. I tried to be disciplined and get on a schedule with my writing, but it just doesn't work. Sorry guys. I'm not stopping. I just need to get motivated again. Also if you have any questions, please feel free to message me.**


	21. Chapter 21

Carlos took a seat on the floor in the living room, leaning back on the sectional. Dude climbed into his lap and licked the boy's face, excited to see his friend again. Carlos reflexively petted the dog's head as his siblings took a seat behind him on the sectional. He was racking his brain to figure out a strategic way to tell their hosts where they had ventured that wouldn't get the dwarf kids in trouble. He sighed as nothing good came to mind.

Doug was sitting next to Evie, head tilted down slightly, probably trying to decide that exactly to say to his parents as well. Guilt and dread shadowed his features.

Mal, Jay, Carlos, Evie, and Doug sat silently, waiting. Abigail and Dopey were in the kitchen, doing Carlos didn't know what. Daisy had run upstairs to change into dry clothes.

After five minutes or so, Daisy came down the steps in black pajama pants with a daisy flower printed on the upper right thigh and a red hoodie that read "Keep Moving Forward" in chrome letters across the chest. Her hair was quickly thrown into a loose braid, and her purple beanie was pulled down to her ears. She glanced toward to the kitchen before making a spot for herself on the floor beside Carlos and next to Jay's feet. Dude crawled to the girl and greeted her with doggie kisses.

"Hi, Dude." Daisy whispered with a halfhearted smile.

"That's my hoodie." Doug stated as he looked down at his sister.

"I know." Daisy simply replied. She was fully aware of who the hoodie she was wearing belonged to. Doug had gotten it from a science summer camp at Robinson University. Daisy had claimed it when Doug didn't take it to Auradon Prep with him.

"I want it back when you're done."

"Alright."

When the empty and meaningless conversation ended, silence consumed the room again. Carlos decided the only reason the siblings spoke at all was to try to fight off the heavy silence or maybe to distract themselves from the trouble they were all in. The more the DeVil thought about it, the more he realized this could very well be the first time Doug and Daisy have ever gotten in trouble. Auradon kids, for the most part, are against doing any kind of wrong or breaking rules. This was probably new for them.

Dopey and Abigail finally entered the room after twenty more minutes. Dopey was carrying a trey with a seven mugs on it. The man set the trey on the coffee table and handed a mug to each teen. Doug nodded a thanks to his father as he took his cup. Carlos furrowed his brow, eyeing the peculiar brown liquid. Beside him, Daisy deeply inhaled the aroma of drink and sighed contently before cautiously taking a sip.

Abigail had been wearing her stern expression from earlier, obviously ready to scold them all, but her face softened slightly. "Is something wrong, Carlos?" She asked.

Carlos faintly started at being addressed. He glanced up at the woman before analyzing his mug again. "No, ma'am. At least, I don't think. What is this?"

Mal and Evie had already taken a sip and hummed in delight at the creamy taste. Daisy was hugged her mug, letting the hot liquid warm her from the inside out. Doug's tension melted away with every drop that passed his lips. Jay nearly spit his drink on Daisy's head after taking a big swig and burning his tongue.

"It's hot chocolate. Have you not tried it yet?" Abigail found it odd that the boy didn't know what the beverage was. From what her children had told her, Carlos was a chocoholic.

Carlos's eyes doubled in size, staring at his cup, unable to process since new information. "You can drink chocolate, too?" He gasped.

Abigail couldn't help giggling at that. "Yes, sweetheart. It's my secret recipe. It'll warm you right up. You all looked cold when you came in." The woman glanced at her daughter. Daisy curled into a tight little ball, continuing to sip her hot chocolate.

Without a second thought, Carlos turned up his mug to chug the drink. The others jumped at his action, reaching out to stop him.

"No no no!"

"Carlos!"

"Wait!"

"Don't-"

Carlos's eyes watered and his cheeks turned red. The boy swallowed hard and began coughing and gasping for air. "That... burned." He managed to utter between pants.

Jay smirked at his brother. "Yeah. I already did that."

The girls giggled at the youngest boy. Dopey walked into the kitchen and returned with a cup of ice cubes, offering it to Carlos, who immediately stuck his scorched tongue to the ice.

"Now then." Abigail started, calling the teens' attentions back to her. "What took you so long to get home? Hm? Did something happen?"

Doug and Daisy slowly nodded. Abigail frowned. Evie slid her hand into Doug's, and he held on for dear life. "We hiked to the river bank to swim. We were going to hang out there until we needed to come home, but Daisy got hurt diving into the water early on so we left."

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Concern filled Abigail's voice.

Daisy quickly signed 'yes' and the worry melted off her mother's face.

"You left?" Dopey brought them back on topic. "Where did you go?"

The words lumped in Doug's throat. He didn't want to tell his parents they had trespassed, but he knew better than to lie to mom. Abigail Dwarfson always found out the truth, one way or another. "We went to the Southern Valley." Doug finally croaked.

Abigail frowned. "You know the Southern Valley is off limits, Douglas." Her voice was flat, barely sounding scolding at all. This confused the teens.

Doug was expecting an expression of horror or rage or anything other than the blank look his mother was wearing now.

"Is that it? You just walked to the Southern Valley?" The woman questioned.

Daisy wouldn't meet her mom's gaze. Evie shrank into her seat a bit as Doug stared at his shoes. Mal and Jay glanced at each other. Carlos petted Dude's head, who was still lying in Daisy's lap.

"You found it, didn't you?" The teens all snapped their attention to Dopey. "You found the castle?" The man's bright baby blue eyes were dull, not even seeing the children in front of him.

Doug gulped. "We went inside..."

Dopey paled and Abigail just looked confused. "Went inside where?" Abigail asked.

"Grimhilda's castle."

The woman nearly fell over. "What?!" she screeched. She looked between the teens and her husband but returned to the man. "I thought you said it wasn't there anymore."

"Wait. You knew the castle was there?" Mal asked.

Dopey sighed, running a hand through his graying brown hair. He sat down on the hearth. "We weren't sure. None of us were brave enough to go down there to check. King Adam and Fairy God Mother said that everything belonging to the villains would be sent to the Isle with them. We assumed the castle was gone after that."

"Well it was there." Evie stated. " _Everything_ was there."

"Everything? Even the spell books and potions and... the mirror?"

"Not the mirror. Not anymore. It kinda... exploded." Carlos said hesitantly.

When the adults gave them bewildered expression, Doug began telling his parents exactly what happened inside the Evil Queen's castle.

Daisy brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. Dude was now lying between her and Carlos, but rubbed his back against her leg. Jay leaned forward to set a comforting hand on the dwarf girl's shoulder. Daisy signed 'thank you' with a faint smile.

Tears streamed down Abigail's cheeks. Dopey looked sick.

"I'm so sorry. We knew better than to go near my mother's castle. I shouldn't have let them go in there." Evie apologized, shifting blame to herself.

Daisy shook her head. "Do not blame yourself. When Syngine and Hayden get an idea in their heads, it's nearly impossible to break them from it. There was no talking them out of exploring."

Dopey messaged his temples, trying to think without receiving a headache. He analyzed each teen before him. Each seemed shaken in their own way. The dwarf sighed. "Go upstairs. Go to bed."

Doug and Daisy gazed at their father, thrown for a loop by his words. "We're not in trouble?"

"There is no punishment I could give you that could ever be worse than what you experienced today. I'm positive my brothers will ground their sons in some fashion, but you all basically punished yourself already. I'm just glad you're all back safe."

No one said anything else. Abigail hugged each of the teens before they ascended the stairs, while Dopey waved goodnight. The girls went into Daisy's room and shut the door. The boys went into Doug's room and shut the door.

 **A/N hey guys! I was hoping to finish this earlier in the month but I'm a freshman in college now so I had to get all my ducks in a row before I moved in last Thursday and then I had events and classes and all that. Tell me what you all think. I love feedback and ideas. I'm thinking next chapter is going to have a lot of couple stuff, so you have been warned. I hope everyone is having a good school year so far. Good luck in everything you do! Bye! :)**


	22. Chapter 22

_A chilling wind blows through the rundown streets of the Isle of the Lost. Rats scurry in and out of drain pipes. Heels click against the broken asphalt._

 _Evie scans the marketplace for any signs of people or goblins. The dull half moon is the only light in the square; all the street lamps are off or broken. She doesn't see anyone, but that means nothing in a place filled with thieves._

 _"Hello!" The bluenette calls, her voice echoing off the old buildings around her._

 _"Evie?" An older voice answers._

 _The girl spins on her heels, turning to find someone standing at the end of the road. She can't see the woman very well in the dark, but Evie knows the voice all too well. She hesitantly begins walking toward the shadowed figure._

 _"Mommy? What are you doing here this late?" Evie questions. The Evil Queen is a stickler for beauty sleep. She never stays up past 10 P.M. and judging from the lack of late-night troublemakers, it must be pushing 3 A.M._

 _The ends of Grimhilda's lips curl in a wicked half smirk half smile. "I came to find you, of course." The woman holds herself high and seems to glide toward Evie. "I have a surprise for you, my dear."_

 _A shiver runs up and down Evie's spine. The usual cold authority in Grimhilda's voice is absent. Her words are almost warm and motherly. Something is wrong. The teen can feel it._

 _Grimhilda quickly spins on her heels, sending her cape whipping around her and like magic that shouldn't exist on the Isle of the Lost, summoning a thick fog to surround the two evil royals. The little light in the area vanishes. Evie squints her eyes in an attempt to see in the darkness._

 _"Don't squint. Wrinkles." Her mother gently reminds her._

 _The girl instantly stops. Old habits die hard._

 _Suddenly the ground begins to quake. Evie struggles to keep her balance while the Evil Queen doesn't flinch. Objects burst through the concrete, encircling the women._

 _"What's going on? What are those things?" Evie fearfully asks._

 _"Your surprise." Grimhilda's motherly tone takes a sinister turn. "I'm giving you what you deserve-" The fog clears, Evie eyes widen in horror. "-for betraying me."_

 _Evie shakes and crumbles to the ground in pure terror. The objects sprouting from the earth are large wooden boxes with symbols and names carved into them._

 _Coffins._

 _Eight coffins._

 _Each sharing the same symbol. A family crest. A pickaxe and a gemstone._

 _"No... no... no no no no no!" Evie cries. Tears stream down her cheeks as she looks at each coffin and reads each name: Greg, Hayden, Syngine, Don, Bryce, Shawn, . . . Daisy, . . . Doug. . . The princess curls into a ball on the cold ground, hugging herself as she sobs. "Why?" She manages to choke out. "Why did you do this?"_

 _A dark chuckle sounds through the air as Grimhilda moves to rest her perfectly manicured hand on Doug's coffin. "Did you really think you could befriend the enemy and there not be consequences? I taught you to hate them, as it should be, and you go falling for one of the rodents." She growls and digs her nails into the wood. The Evil Queen elegantly turns to glare her nose at her grieving daughter. "You brought it upon yourself. This is your fault."_

 _Evie shakes her head. She refuses to listen. This can't be happening._

 _"She's right." A velvet voice sounds from behind the teen, startling her._

 _"D-Dopey...?" Confusion slips into the mix of emotions in Evie's teary eyes._

 _The dwarf's normally kind baby blue eyes are blazing with pain and rage. "They're gone because of you. You're as terrible as your mother. My children are **dead** because of you!" The man roars with every bit of anger in him. "It's all your fault!"_

 _The words cut Evie down to her core._ It's all my fault.

 _The air stills and the world falls silent. Dopey lifts a pickaxe that is sticking out of the ground beside him. "You should have never come to Auradon. You're nothing but rotten and evil." The man menacingly steps toward Evie. "The world will be better without you..."_

 _She can't utter a plea for mercy. The lump in her throat from grief, guilt, and fear is making it hard to breathe and blocking any sound from escaping, even a sob. The only boy she's ever truly loved is dead, along with half his family, because of her. Nothing is going to change that. Evie's vision further blurs with tears before she shuts her eyes and accepts her fate._

 _"Good riddance." Dopey raises his pickaxe above his head and, with a furious cry, buries the spike into the concrete, inches from Evie._

 _The earth beneath the girl shatters like glass and collapses. Evie is instantly swallowed by the pitch black abyss, falling into nothingness. As the world around her quickly fades, Evie manages to let out one final bloodcurdling scream. . ._

Evie sat straight up in bed, gasping for air and clutching her blankets for dear life. Sweat and tears were plastered to her face. The room seemed to spin as she tried to figure out where she was. The sound of her terrified scream rung in her ears. Had she actually screamed or was it just the aftermath of her nightmare?

"What happened? Evie, are you alright?" Mal appeared beside her, concern prominent in her voice.

The door to the bedroom flew open and someone slapped the light switch. The girls winced at the sudden harsh light. Evie blinked to see Jay and Carlos standing in the doorway, Doug quickly fumbled into the room behind them.

"What's wrong?" Jay looked ready to fight.

Doug scanned his sister's room for anything out of the ordinary. Seeing Daisy halfway down the ladder to her lofted bed looking as confused as he was, the boy moved to his girlfriend, who had chosen to sleep on the bay window bed. He sat beside her, and Evie buried her face in his shoulder, hugging her boyfriend tightly. Doug wrapped his arms around her, one hand gently soothing her tangled hair. "E? Are you alright?"

The blunette took a deep breath. She could feel herself trembling. She clung to Doug's gray t-shirt, trying to force herself to get a grip. It was only a dream. A nightmare.

More approaching footsteps brought everyone's attention back to the door. Dopey skidded into view, grabbing the door-frame so he didn't slide past the room in his socks on hardwood floor. Abigail came in behind her husband, still tying her house robe around her waist.

"What's going on? Who screamed?" The concerned woman asked. The teens responded by looking at Evie. Abigail turned to her as well. "What is it, sweetie?"

Evie finally pulled away from Doug. "N-nothing." She shook her head, trying to clear the images from her brain. "Just a bad dream. That's all. I'm sorry I woke you all up."

"Must have been a hell of a nightmare. I don't think I've ever known you to wake up screaming like that." Carlos frowned.

Doug tucked a strand of hair behind Evie's ear and placed a kiss on her forehead, before hugging her again. "It's alright." He whispered softly so only she could hear. "You're safe. I'm here."

Evie smiled and leaned heavily against her boyfriend. He was incredible at comforting people. A trait Evie had honestly taken for granted in Auradon. She made a mental note to show Doug how much she appreciated him more often.

Dopey glanced at the teens around him. They seemed to be visibly shaken by the rude awakening. After the day they just had, the dwarf didn't blame them for being so on edge. He nudged his wife and nodded to the door when she looked at him.

"I think we'll go back to bed. You boys should get back to Doug's room. All of you kids need some sleep." Abigail advised as she turned to leave the room.

If Dopey had turned a second sooner, he would have missed Evie's hand gripping Doug's sleeve, keeping the boy from leaving. The man frowned. He recognized that action, and it hurt his heart every time he saw it. His glaze drifted to his daughter, who was normally the one clinging to Doug to keep him from leaving when she was scared. Daisy was frowning. She seemed to have caught the silent cry for help as well.

Daisy turned to her dad, and their matching baby blue eyes met. No word was uttered. No hand was lifted to sign. Emotions and understanding in their eyes sent the message. Father and daughter shared a soft smile and a nod of agreement before Daisy climbed up the ladder to her lofted bed, tossing pillows and blankets down to Dopey when she reached the top.

"What are you doing?" Mal asked, confused by the dwarves' sudden actions.

Dopey just smiled warmly. "Come on," he nodded towards the bedroom door.

The other teens exchanged lost expressions. Daisy slid down her ladder and skipped out of the room behind her father. Jay shrugged and followed the duo. Mal and Carlos followed suit.

Evie watched everyone exit. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go with them. She was perfectly content with being here with Doug at the moment.

"I think I know what they're up to," Doug slightly smirked. "Don't worry. You'll like this." He reassured her. He placed a kiss on his girlfriend's hand and led her through the house to the living room.

His dad and sister had turned the hard wood floor of the living room into a sea of blankets and pillows. Mal, Jay, and Daisy were arranging their places to sleep. Carlos and Dude had already claimed a spot near the hearth of the fireplace where Dopey was currently lighting a small block of wood.

"What's this?" Evie wondered aloud.

"It's like a slumber party." Daisy answered with a giggle.

"We used to do this when Doug and Daisy would have nightmares as little kids. Everyone got to sleep together so they felt safe, and it also kept them out of mom and dad's bed." Dopey explained, standing from the small fire.

"Gee, thanks, dad" Doug lightly deadpanned.

The man wished the teens a good night and sweet dreams. He then went back up stairs to his own bedroom.

"He's trusting us down here by ourselves?" Carlos sounded surprised by that.

"You planning on doing anything with all of us here?" Jay inquired, earning a snort of laughter from everyone else.

The teens settled onto the sea of blankets, using some extras that Daisy grabbed from the closet on the way down to cover up with. Carlos and Dude were curled up by the fire, Jay was backed up to the sectional with Mal on the sectional itself instead of the floor, and Daisy was near the edge of the giant makeshift mattress. Doug and Evie lay facing each other in the center of it all, surrounded by the comfort of soft cushions and loving friends.

Doug placed a kiss on Evie's forehead. He held her hand as she allowed herself to drift to sleep. Doug stayed awake for a short time, watching Evie breathe peacefully. He noticed her eyelids flutter as she began to dream again. When a faint smile graced her beautiful lips, Doug judged that there would be no more nightmares tonight and slowly let himself join Evie in dreamland.

 **A/N Long time no see, guys. Sorry I fell off the face of the planet. College is a lot more time consuming than I imagined it would be. Oh well. I survived my first year! Yay! I had honestly forgotten about this story until I got an email that someone left a review on it. I've had most of this chapter written for a while, but never got time to finish it. So I just hopped back on here and did my best to pick up where I left off. I'm try to write some more now that I'm off for the summer, but I make no promises. I maybe getting a job this summer. Who knows? We'll see what happens.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N long time no see, guys. I haven't totally forgotten about this one. Just haven't had much motivation to write. I've had so many story idea swimming in my head that it's been hard to focus on the one I've already started. (I've learned that I can't do multiple stories at once, it just doesn't work) Anyway, Descendants 2 was AWESOME! I loved every minute of it. Loved Jane and Carlos getting together and Lonnie and Jay interaction. (Much prefer JayXLonnie over JayXAudrey, yuck) Devie moments were great and I'm totally bringing Dizzy into my stories at some point. I could sing that movie's praise all day, but the timing of it did mess with how I interpreted the timeline a bit. Hopefully worked it in well enough to satisfy for now. Enjoy the fluff while it lasts! I have evil things planned for later.**

The embers in the fireplace quietly crackled to nothing. The clock on the wall rhythmically ticked close to 4 A.M. Carlos and Dude snored softly, blissfully lost in their dreams. The blankets rustled as someone tossed and turned in their sleep.

Jay lay awake listening to it all. He hadn't been able to drift into Dreamland like the others. He dozed off a few times, but his body would jerk back to awareness, refusing to fall asleep. It was annoying, but he understood why it was happening. Despite the warmth of the fire, a familiar and eerie chill would trickle over him when he began to sink into the comfort of the blankets, and Jay would snap out of it with a sharp twitch.

With a heavy sigh, Jay opened his eyes, giving up on the idea of rest tonight. The dying fire dimly lit the living room. Jay scanned the room lazily, smirking when his tired gaze settled on Doug and Evie. In the low light he could see the couple fast asleep, side-by-side. Doug seemed to have stolen their shared blanket, cocooning himself in the fabric. Evie, who for all her "perfect princess" teaching growing up had never been an elegant sleeper, was sprawled out with one arm above her head, one leg bent at a weird angle, the other leg stuffed under the small remainder of blanket, and one arm about two inches and one rude awaking away from punching Doug in the face.

The wicked bone deep in his body wanted to see that scene: something startling Evie awake and Doug getting a knuckle sandwich for breakfast. It would be hilarious. The more sensible side of Jay that had developed tremendously since arriving in Auradon and basically being adopted by Queen Belle said that scaring his sister to make her hit her boyfriend was extremely impolite and uncalled-for. Especially after the day they just had.

Jay shook the thought out of his head and rolled over so his back was to the couple. He now lay with his face to the sectional. He could see under the furniture piece to the doorway to the kitchen. The moonlight shining through the glass door onto the tile floor made the entryway more visible. Plus Jay was accustomed to seeing in the dark. Years of roaming the shadowy alleyways of the Isle parented some oddly useful skills.

A muffled, frustrated sigh from the other side of the living room caught Jay's attention. He lay still, listening to the person fighting when their covers. Bare feet almost silently padded across the hardwood floor of the living room to the tile of the kitchen. Jay heard the back door slowly creak open then softly click closed. Curiosity drove Jay to get up from this makeshift bed and follow the person. It wasn't like he was sleeping anyway.

The boy sneaked to the back door, looking through the glass to find Daisy sitting on the steps of the porch. Jay frowned. Guess he wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping. After a moment of thought, he reached for the door handle and walked out into the cool night air.

Daisy jumped slightly when the door opened. She relaxed at seeing it was only Jay with a small, tired smile.

"Hi" Daisy whispered with a slight smile of her own.

Jay quietly shut the door behind him. "Hey. Mind if I join you?"

The dwarf shook her head. "No, go ahead." She slid to one side of the steps. Her brows furrowed in concern as Jay lowered himself beside her. "Did I wake you up?"

"No. I wasn't sleeping anyway." The older boy assured her. That didn't seem to take away her concern. "Besides," Jay smirked, "Sleep is for the weak."

Daisy scoffed through a grin. "I normally only hear that if the boys are trying to justify all night gaming sessions." Her eyes fell to her feet. Jay frowned when he noticed there was no light in her eyes. "We could've really gotten hurt today, huh?" She quietly mumbled.

Jay heaved a sigh, but didn't look away from Daisy. "Yeah... You really scared us for a bit there, Daz..."

"Sorry..."

With a shrug, Jay managed a smirk. "Eh. We wouldn't have any awesome stories to tell our kids one day if it wasn't for days like today."

Daisy chuckled at that. "Yeah, what kid doesn't love stories about their parents being stupid at their age?"

"That's what I'm saying. They might actually think we're cool." The boy exaggerated his normal "cool guy" face to emphasize his point, making Daisy genuinely laugh.

"Of course, to get to that point, someone would have to pin down Playboy Jay." She razzed her friend with a smugly raised eyebrow.

The comment caught Jay off guard. He flinched slightly before managing a playful pout. "Oh, that's a low blow, Shutterbug." He gingerly placed a hand on his gut as if Daisy had actually hit him.

She rolled her eyes at the nickname. Since the younger dwarf loved photography and always had her camera with her, Jay and Carlos had taken to calling her "Shutterbug", which slightly annoyed her, which made the boys even more inclined to use the name.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure you're the one who didn't ask a girl to Cotillion last week so you 'could dance with all of them.' Hm?" A sly grin spread across her lips.

His heart dropped at the reminder. That teasing grin told him this girl was toying with, and as much as Jay knew that, his brain could not recover quick enough to keep up the playful tone. He actually felt sheepish. He was losing his edge. "To be fair," He began defending himself: the white flag of banter. The veteran just became a rookie again. "I danced with only one girl the whole night, and that was Lonnie. Well, I did dance with Jane for part of that one song. But, she and Carlos are basically dating now, so that doesn't count."

Daisy giggled, baby blue eyes shining brightly in the night. Jay smiled to himself. The girl leaned over to bump him with her shoulder. "I'm just bugging you, Jay. You don't have to actually plead your case."

Jay thought he felt his cheeks warm up, but he quickly pushed it aside with a charming smirk. "Shutterbug? Bugging me? No, that would never happen." His words dripped with sarcasm, earning him a mild stink eye from Daisy. She was learning from Evie, much to Jay's misfortune.

"Last week was really hectic for you all, wasn't it?" Cotillion is a highly prestigious event. Only upperclassmen are allowed to attend. Therefore, freshmen like Daisy had their whole schedules rearranged to open up more time for the upperclassmen to plan and set up the event. Many juniors and seniors didn't even attend class last week in preparation, so Daisy really hadn't seen much of her friends until everything was over.

"I think this definitely beat Ben's coronation in stress level." Jay groaned a bit, recalling every drama filled moment.

"Both involved dragon appearances. I think I'm detecting a pattern." She noted with a contemplative pout. The dwarf had been clued into the events of last week by Mal and Evie at lunch the following school day.

He laughed. "I think you're on to something."

"I can't believe you told Doug that Evie went camping. Was that really the best lie you could come up with?" She raised a playful eyebrow at him.

"Not our finest moment." Jay winced, remembering the ass-kicking he and Carlos got from Evie after cotillion was over for the terrible lie they freaked Doug out with. He supposed, in the long run, it was a good thing that creating convincing lies on the spot had become so difficult, but it was inconvenient as Hell when a situation needed to be kept secret. "How bad was that to deal with?"

"Granted, not nearly as bad as what you all were dealing with, but he came bursting into my dorm room panicking. He thought Evie had run off with someone else. He thought it could have been Hayden. Hayden doesn't even _go_ to Auradon Prep. It was ridiculous!" Daisy shook her head at the memory of her brother's crazy theory that his beloved girlfriend had left him for their cousin. She needed to cut Doug off from those weird soap operas Mom got him interested in.

Jay fell back laughing. He was told about the situation his and Carlos's terrible lie caused, but he didn't know that Doug had actually named a possible girlfriend stealer. That was funny. However, the fact that the dwarf thought it was a member of his own family who Evie had never even met was hilarious. To Jay anyway.

Daisy twisted on the steps to see her friend properly as he lay down on the porch. The moonlight shifted through the trees to dance across the muscular teen. One arm covered his eyes while the other rested on his stomach, which was vibrating with laughter. Long brown hair piled in a messy heap under his neck and around his shoulders. A genuinely delighted smile seemed to glow in the night. A moment of uncensored emotion and unposed perfection. Oh she wished she had her camera right now.

Jay's arm slid from over his eyes to behind his head, sighing as he finished laughing. "Wow. That's something else."

A hum was the only response he received. The boy turned his head to the girl beside him. Baby blue eyes gazed softly down on him. Jay raised a questioning eyebrow, confused as to what he had done to earn such a... loving look. Daisy didn't seem to notice his expression, lost in a daze.

"What's up, Daz?" He finally asked.

The dwarf was silent for a moment, still stuck in her thoughts. "Thank you..." She whispered absentmindedly.

With as many emotions as Jay could see swimming in Daisy's eyes, those words were the last he'd thought she'd say, which only confused him more. Why was she thanking him? What had he done?

"For what?" He voiced.

Daisy shook her head, but that loving expression never left her face. "For everything." She smiled like that was all the answer he needed.

Jay sat up with his elbows, still completely lost and hoping she'd clarify.

"I've known you for two months." She continued after a moment. "In two months, you have made me feel more like myself than I have felt in four years." Her voice sounded so relieved and strong.

"How did I do that?" He blamed the lack of sleep for his slow functioning brain. Jay needed to catch up. Mainly so he would know what he did to make Daisy feel so confident, and then do that again every chance he got.

She gave him a sleepy smile. "Just by being you."

Jay huffed a laugh through a smirk. "That's not a very good answer."

"It's the truth." Daisy giggled, head swaying like she was barely awake. She suddenly looked so exhausted. As if admitting that Jay was helping her had taken a great deal of effort to do and had drained the last of her energy.

"You need sleep." Jay pointed out. He stood up and held out his hands to pull her to her feet as well.

"I thought sleep was for the weak." She challenged. "Do you think I'm weak, Jay?"

He shook his head and smiled at her. "You are far from weak, Daz. You're one of the strongest people I know." He said admirably.

Daisy smiled proudly at that. She took both of Jay's hands and allowed herself to be lifted up. The athlete brought the petite girl to her feet with ease, but in her exhausted state, Daisy didn't keep her balance and stumbled forward.

Jay barely moved as the dwarf's face met his chest, standing his ground so they both didn't fall off the porch. He looked down to only see the top of Daisy head. He felt her groan against his tank top, which shifted into a giggle. She lifted her chin to rest his chest, looking up at the taller boy with an embarrassed grin.

"Sorry." The small girl giggled. A slight blush dusted her cheeks.

Jay smiled softly at his half-asleep friend. "It's alright." Without really thinking, he wrapped his arms around the girl to hug her. She returned the gesture, but turned her head so her ear was pressed to his heart. He hoped she didn't hear it miss a beat. "Thank you, Daz."

"What for?"

"For being you."

The two squeezed each other tightly before releasing from the hug. They silently crept back inside to maybe get some sleep before morning. The embers in the fireplace had finally died out, leaving the room a little colder than it was when they sneaked outside.

Daisy shivered and grabbed the blanket she had covered up with earlier in the night. She cautiously stepped over Evie and Doug, who were now sharing a blanket again, and moved to Jay's claimed spot on the makeshift mattress. The boy raised an eyebrow at her before lying down in his spot.

"Why did you move over here with me?" He asked in a low voice. He was answered by Daisy's blanket being draped over both them as she snuggled into his side, using his pec as a pillow.

"Because I'm cold and you're warm," was her reasoning.

He didn't argue with that logic or complain about the new sleeping arrangement. He just slid his arm around her petite shoulders and relaxed. He momentarily thought of the smug looks they'd get from the others if they were still in this position when everyone woke up. That was to be dealt with later. Right now, sleep was finally welcoming them both into its arms, and no eerie chill could break through the warmth between them.


End file.
